St. Patrick's Day: Don't Drink and Drive

By Sara Freund

St. Patrick’s Day is coming up on Tuesday, March 17, but many festivities will begin this weekend. For many adults and young adults, this holiday of leprechauns, shamrocks and the color green is also one associated with binge drinking.

St. Patrick’s Day has also become known as unlucky time on the country’s roadways. Over St. Patrick’s Day from 2009 to 2013, there were 276 lives lost across the country in drunk-driving crashes, and almost three-fourths of those fatalities involved drivers who were twice the legal limit, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

In Fairfax County this St. Patrick’s Day, the Unified Prevention Coalition of Fairfax County (UPC) joins with partners at the Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP) and the Fairfax County Police Department and other law enforcement officials in urging county residents and motorists to have a plan and not rely on luck to get home safely.

More than 55 area restaurants also have been getting the word out early to remind patrons to not drink and drive this month. The restaurants are partnering with the Unified Prevention Coalition in its campaign geared to keep young adult drivers from drinking and driving.

By distributing colorful “Cab or Cell” drink coasters, the restaurants join the effort to reduce the alcohol-related crashes in Fairfax County involving youth and young adults. In 2013, some 257 crashes involved alcohol-impaired drivers ages 15-24 in Fairfax County.

Collaborating on this project are the Red Top and Yellow Cab companies, which have been coaster sponsors, and many of our Fairfax County police departments that also will have increased enforcement this “holiday” weekend.

“Far too often luck runs out on St. Patrick’s celebrations, and we want to encourage good choices and decisions to not drink and drive,” said UPC President Lisa Adler. “The restaurants that have joined our ‘Don’t Drink and Drive’ campaign are part of our proactive effort to stop drunk driving before a key is put into an ignition.”

Another popular option for area residents is WRAP’s SoberRide program. If you are 21 and older, to get a free cab ride (up to $30), call the SoberRide number 1-800-200-8294 (TAXI) from 4 p.m. March 17 until 4 a.m. March 18. Ridership for WRAP’s St. Patrick’s Day SoberRide offered over the last decade has averaged 447 free cab rides to persons whom otherwise may have driven home drunk. Last year snow fell on St. Patrick’s Day, dampering the plans of many revelers, but WRAP’s anti-DUI effort still provided 112 free cab rides home to would-be drunk drivers.

St. Patrick’s Day should be fun and festive. Plan ahead to keep it that way. And if you see a drunk driver on the road, contact police immediately by calling 911.

Sara Freund is the executive director of the Unified Prevention Coalition of Fairfax County.

The Unified Prevention Coalition of Fairfax County is a nonprofit organization with more than 60 community partners working together to keep youth and young adults safe and drug-free. Visit www.unifiedpreventioncoalition.org and www.facebook.com/unifiedpreventioncoalition. Follow the group on Twitter at www.twitter.com/keepyouthsafe.