St. Patrick's Day: Plan a Sober Ride to Live to Be Irish Another Day

This year, St. Patrick’s Day - March 17, 2023 - falls on a Friday. The celebratory day is one of the biggest drinking occasions of the year, and this, unfortunately, means more drunk drivers on the roads. With Saint Patrick's Day falling on a Friday, we can expect a fairly dangerous weekend for drivers and passengers alike.

On St. Patrick’s Day, everybody’s Irish! Unfortunately, nobody’s immune to the consequences of drunk driving. Every year, thousands of people needlessly lose their lives in motor vehicle crashes involving impaired drivers and motorcyclists. Last year, 327 of these alcohol-related crashes occurred during the St. Patrick’s Day holiday.

And the costs are not only death, disfigurement, disability or injury. There are significant financial costs as well – car repair, hospital bills, legal fees, bail, higher insurance rates, fines, court costs and lost time at work. Not to mention the trauma and social stigma of being the guy who got busted for drunk driving. It’s simply not worth it when there are so many ways to avoid it altogether:

• Designate a sober driver before going out.
• If you become impaired and don’t have a designated driver, call a cab, call a friend or family member, or take a bus.
• If you see a friend who is too drunk to drive, take their keys and call them a cab – or drive them home yourself (of course, only if you haven’t been drinking).
• Consider using your community’s safe rides program.
• If you see a driver on the road that is obviously driving impaired, don’t hesitate to call the law.

So, if you’re planning a night at the pub, you can’t rely on the luck of the Irish to keep you safe. You have to make your own luck.

On St. Patrick’s Day, everybody’s Irish! Unfortunately, nobody’s immune to the consequences of drunk driving. Every year, thousands of people needlessly lose their lives in motor vehicle crashes involving impaired drivers and motorcyclists. Last year, 327 of these alcohol-related crashes occurred during the St. Patrick’s Day holiday.

And the costs are not only death, disfigurement, disability or injury. There are significant financial costs as well – car repair, hospital bills, legal fees, bail, higher insurance rates, fines, court costs and lost time at work. Not to mention the trauma and social stigma of being the guy who got busted for drunk driving. It’s simply not worth it when there are so many ways to avoid it altogether:

• Designate a sober driver before going out.
• If you become impaired and don’t have a designated driver, call a cab, call a friend or family member, or take a bus.
• If you see a friend who is too drunk to drive, take their keys and call them a cab – or drive them home yourself (of course, only if you haven’t been drinking).
• Consider using your community’s safe rides program.
• If you see a driver on the road that is obviously driving impaired, don’t hesitate to call the law.

So, if you’re planning a night at the pub, you can’t rely on the luck of the Irish to keep you safe. You have to make your own luck.

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