EDITORIAL: Don’t add to the statistics on New Year’s holiday

Published 1:06 pm Monday, December 30, 2024

In 2022, 500 people in Georgia were killed in a drunk driving-related crash, according to the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety.

As we turn the page on 2024 and usher in 2025, please don’t add to these statistics this New Year’s holiday.

For those who plan to be out on New Year’s Eve — if you drink, find a designated driver or a safe way to get home — and take the keys from friends who drink.

Local law enforcement will also be on the lookout for impaired drivers.

Please have a plan for getting home — a designated driver or some form of ride service — and be mindful of friends and family members who have been drinking to ensure their safety and the safety of others.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 36 percent of the persons killed in vehicle crashes on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day in Georgia from 2017 through 2021 involved a driver whose Blood-Alcohol Concentration (BAC) level was higher than the state’s legal limit of .08 and 81 percent of those drunk driving crashes in Georgia on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day from 2017-2021 involved a driver whose BAC was twice the legal limit.  

Drunk driving deaths are preventable because they are all caused by someone making the wrong decision to drive under the influence of alcohol, drugs or both. Those poor decisions harm not only the impaired driver but their families and others on the roadways as well with consequences that cannot be undone.

As the year winds to a close, let’s all make an effort to make it a quiet ending on Georgia’s roadways. We all should make a concerted effort to put this effort into practice throughout the rest of this year and beyond.

Please be responsible and stay safe.