Rethink Your Drinking This Holiday Period: Keep The Family Safe

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Suzanne KaneDecember 22nd, 2011 By Suzanne Kane


Drunk driver,^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Do U know someone that drives drunk...? Tell them about the below!
Member's I hope that you are not one of them...
Please Read the below..."Be Safe out there"


The longest holiday period is just ahead, eleven days, to be exact, from December 23 through January 2, 2012. For nearly 92 million Americans, that means getting in the car and traveling to visit family, friends or to take a well-earned and much-needed vacation.
That’s the estimate from AAA on the number of Americans traveling this holiday period.
But keep this caution front and center as you get ready to pack your bags and head out on the highway. Drinking and driving not only don’t mix, they’re a recipe for disaster. Statistically speaking, two to three times more people die in alcohol-related crashes in the Christmas to New Year’s timeframe than any other time of the year.




Just in time for the holiday getaway, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health, has some important information about drinking and driving that all drivers should pay attention to:

• Alcohol’s effects begin quickly, much quicker than we might think.
• Initially, alcohol acts as a stimulant, but it soon affects judgment, lowers inhibitions, and could lead to reckless behavior behind the wheel.
• The more alcohol drivers consume, the more their reaction time increases and the less they’re able to control their behavior, which could lead to aggressive driving, even more risk-taking and potentially deadly consequences for the driver and family members or other occupants, as well as others on the road.
• Continued drinking leads to the kind of slurred speech and jerky movements we typically associate with someone who’s drunk.
• At some point, when the body has too much alcohol and the alcohol depresses vital functions, the driver becomes sleepy or may even pass out behind the wheel.

Beware of the old recommendations to load up on the caffeine before getting back on the road after drinking. That’s a myth. What drinking coffee does is to temporarily help you combat drowsiness, but it can’t do anything to eliminate alcohol that’s already in your body. That takes time to dissipate, hours for the body to metabolize the alcohol and return the driver to a normal state.


When you’re trying to drive the family home from a get-together or celebration, no amount of caffeine is going to make you sober up any quicker. The only solution, at that point, is to have someone else drive who has not been drinking. Do not assume that it’s okay to ask another person to take the wheel who’s also been drinking, under the mistaken belief that they seem to be fit to drive. The only one who should be a designated driver is one who hasn’t been drinking, period.
Why take the chance with your family and loved ones this holiday period? Make it a sober and safe time by curtailing your drinking this year. If you do plan to drink, stay home or stay the night. Arrange for alternate transportation. Call a cab or the tipsy-driver services available in some states and municipalities.

For more tips and information on what constitutes a drink, how alcohol affects the body, and how to cut back or cut out drinking this holiday season, see the NIAAA’s Rethinking Drinking website.
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Holiday Crackdown On Drunk Driving In Force Dec. 16-Jan. 1

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Suzanne KaneDecember 14th, 2011





With the holidays so much on everyone’s mind for the next couple of weeks, it’s time for a reminder that having a bit too much cheer or too much beer before getting behind the wheel could land you in a much worse spot: jail.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, kicking off the annual holiday crackdown Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over, said that the Department of Transportation is “stepping up our efforts to get drunk drivers off our roads…We’re making gains in our fight against drunk driving, but we cannot and will not let up.”

The Governor’s Highway Safety Association (GHSA) urges motorists to exercise good judgment at this time of the year, especially in the December 16 through January 1 holiday period. That’s when member state agencies will be enforcing the Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over effort to curb drunk driving.
It’s more than just a publicity campaign. Barbara Harsha, GHSA executive director, warns, “Any person who considers drinking and driving should know that police are out in full force watching for them. The time for warnings has long passed. If you drive drunk this holiday period, there will be consequences.”

Research data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) shows that during the latter half of December 2010, 415 people were killed in traffic accidents involving a drunk driver or motorcycle rider. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety cautions that January 1 is one of the top five deadliest holidays of the year.

What types of enforcement efforts are states planning? Each state has holiday crackdown activities ready to go, including targeted media campaigns to spread awareness, and enforcement efforts that include DUI or sobriety checkpoints, saturation and line patrols, patrolling “hot spots” and supporting organizations with designated driver programs, taxi programs and tow programs.
For a listing of specific state activities during the holiday crackdown period, click here. <~

 

In March of 1986 I was working in a salvage yard in Milton Vermont. I had worked all week and after closing the yard on Saturday afternoon, I took the wrecker out to go pick up a car in Burlington. I picked up a 1976 Datsun B-210 and was driving a 1969 Chevy C-30 with a Canfield wrecker boom on it. I hooked up the Datsun and headed for home. I made it about five miles. I had taken the new connector highway that connected Colchester to downtown Burlington. It was a nice new road and saved quite a few minutes off the trip. The road hade a 50 or 55 MPH speed limit. The day was overcast and the temps were hovering right around freezing. The road had one long curve. Coming in the other direction was a guy named Gary Proulx driving a 77 Chevy Monza hatchback. In front of me was someone driving a Ford Escort and behind me was someone driving a Chevy Chevette. I was getting ready to enter the curve. The Chevy Monza has just navigated the curve and got into the straight away when it crossed the yellow line and was in my lane headed at me head on. The Ford Escort drove into the breakdown lane and was slowing. I wasn't moving that fast because the roads were slick in places but knew that if the Escort was stopping fast I would rear end it because of the added weight I had in tow. I also knew that if the Monza hit the Chevette things would have been tragic. I held my lane and waited for the Monza to go back in his lane. When it became clear that he wasn't going to correct I decided I would not allow him to hit me head on. I began crossing the center lane and the Monza hit me in the passenger door. I was moving slow enough that the impact stopped my truck instantly. When my truck was hit the fire extinguisher that I kept between the door and seat exploded in the cab. The Monza went under my truck, hit the heavy duty rear axle and tore it out from under the truck, he then came out the back of the truck and hit the Datsun breaking it loose from the sling. The Datsun flipped on it roof and passed me on the left and slid onto the roadside. The Monza then did a 180 and was headed in the direction from which it came. The Monza now looked like one of those Mack trucks with the half cab. The passenger side had been flattened from the impact. After I got out of the truck I checked on the Monza driver. He had passed out behind the wheel from intoxication without a scratch on him. All the footwells in the car were full of beer cans and all I could smell was beer from at least 20 feet away. I didn't feel any pain until the next day. I went to the doctor to find out that I had fractured my lower back and whip lashed my neck. A combination of the instant stop and the lack of a seat belt contributed to my injuries. Today I still deal with those injuries. The Chevy C-30 was a total loss as even the wrecker boom was twisted from the wreck. A small business lost a critical piece of equipment that it couldn't afford to lose. The Datsun was a rust bucket but many parts were lost. I get headaches when my neck or back go out and I have to see a chiropractor to set me atraight. All this because some moron got behind the wheel when he had too much to drink and that really sucks to have to deal with this 25 years after someone elses mistake. It is one of the reasons I was never very successful making a living in the car business. I can't be bent over a hood or fender for long periods of time. Working on cars was forced to be a hobby.

 

Gregg, thanks for posting this cautionary tale. It's awful to think that you are still suffering the consequences from something that could have been avoided - if only people would give their keys to somebody BEFORE they start drinking. Let's hope all of us MCF'ers make it safely thru this holiday season. I can't even imagine getting behind the wheel of my beautiful Monte after drinking. It's good to have a car I care so much about!

 

Thanks Angie; it really does bite that I will deal with this the rest of my life. It however could have been much worse. If he had hit me head on I'm not sure I would be here to tell of this incident and if he had hit the Chevette behind me I would have know that I could have prevented that. I knew my truck would take the hit better than the Chevette. He was going to hit me anyway so I took it all.