AFMC encourages sober driving during holiday season

  • Published
  • Air Force Materiel Command Health & Wellness Team

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- The holiday season is a time of year for family gatherings, office parties and socializing with friends, but the holiday season is also known for being the deadliest when it comes to buzzed driving.

A driver’s license mixed with a few alcoholic beverages is dangerous. No one intends for alcohol-impaired accidents to happen, but they do.

According to the National Highway Traffic Administration, 10,265 people were killed in alcohol-impaired crashes in 2015. Drunk driving affects not only the person driving, but everyone in the vehicle, as well as the innocent victims in the driver’s path. It is up to each of us to do our part to prevent alcohol-impaired driving fatalities.

The NHTSA offers the following tips to stay safe and drive sober:

• Designate a driver who drinks no alcohol before the party begins; plan a way for everyone to get home safely at the end of the night.
• Be responsible. If someone you know is drinking, do not let that person get behind the wheel.
• If you see someone driving impaired, contact law enforcement with a vehicle description when it is safe to do so. It is your business. Getting drunk drivers off the road saves lives.
• Walking while alcohol-impaired can be just as dangerous as drunk driving. Designate a sober friend to walk you home.
• If you have been drinking, there is always another way to get home safely. You can call a taxi, phone a sober friend or family member, or call your local free ride program.

Hanscom Airmen Against Drunk Driving, also known as HAADD, was formed to eliminate driving under the influence or driving while intoxicated. The goal of HAADD is to safely return military members and Defense Department civilians to a base residence if they are unable to drive themselves home. Individuals that choose to drink should first plan for a designated sober driver or ride home.

"For those organizations on base that are hosting holiday parties at the Minuteman Commons, Hanscom Airmen Against Drunk Driving will provide rides as needed to ensure no one takes the unnecessary risk of driving home on base," said Airman 1st Class Michele Anderson, Dorm Council president.

Anderson encourages individuals to have a designated driver plan in place, but if needed, HAADD can provide a ride on base. To learn more about HAADD, or to invite a designated driver to an on base holiday party, contact Anderson at 781-225-1335.

(Editor's note: The 66th Air Base Group Public Affairs office contributed to this article.)