Holidays Increase the Risk for Drunk Driving
December is Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month, which is a national effort hoping to raise awareness about the consequences of driving under the influence. The National Commission Against Drunk Driving reports 41% of all traffic crashes are alcohol-related. It is estimated that 30% of Americans are at risk for being involved in alcohol-related traffic crash over their lifetime. Drinking and driving affects everyone; because the costs of alcohol-related crashes ($51 billion) gets passed on to taxpayers, employers, families as well as to the drunk driver. Most of these accidents and deaths are related to binge drinking. Binge drinking is defined for males as five or more drinks per occasion and for females, four or more drinks per occasion. Since alcohol becomes more available in social settings during the holidays, the risk of drunk driving and being a victim of a drunk driver, increase dramatically. There are some things you can do to help reduce the numbers of im...