Holiday wish list from Project R.I.D.E.

We would like to wish you a joyous Holiday Season!

In addition, we would like to provide some information that you can use to help keep yourself and your loved ones safe during the Christmas and New Year holidays.

If you have been driving or riding in a car anytime during the past few weeks, then you know that this is one of the busiest times of the year on our roads and highways. Anyone who has looked for a parking place at Henderson’s largest shopping center or at one of the shopping malls in Raleigh or Durham has experienced this first-hand. Were you also aware that the holiday season is the most dangerous time of the year to travel by car?

There are two primary reasons for this increased danger associated with the holidays. First, as we just mentioned, there is more automobile traffic than at other times of the year. Second, alcohol use and impaired driving increase dramatically during the holiday season. There are significantly more drunk driving crashes and fatalities during the Christmas and New Year holiday periods than during any other times of the year. In fact, the two most dangerous days of the year for alcohol-related traffic fatalities are Christmas and New Year’s Day (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration).

The National Safety Council has provided recommendations to help keep you and your loved ones safe during the holidays:

DO NOT DRINK AND DRIVE. If you plan to drink, arrange for a nondrinking sober driver or cab to take you home.

Avoid driving between midnight and 6 a.m. The majority of all drunk driving accidents happen in this six hour time period.

Be careful at intersections with traffic lights and stop signs. Look both ways for other cars before proceeding.

Watch out for cars that are weaving, straddling the center line, making wide turns, stopping abruptly or responding slowly to traffic signals — the driver may be impaired.

If you suspect an impaired driver, pull over to a safe location and notify the police, sheriff’s department or the Highway Patrol.

If you are a parent, enforce a zero-tolerance alcohol policy for young drivers in your family.

Wear your seat belts. Seat belts can prevent serious injuries and they reduce the risk of fatal injury by 45 percent.

This should be a time of joy, not tragedy. Please follow these simple guidelines and encourage your family and friends to do the same for a safer holiday season.

This message is provided to you by Project R.I.D.E. (Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere), a joint initiative of the Five County Mental Health Authority and the Kerr-Tar Regional Council of Governments. For additional information, please call 252.436.6551.