(Sidney) The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office says the Holiday “Step Wave” project focusing on impaired drivers started Friday and runs thru January 1, 2022.
According to the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office, so far in 2021the county reports seven motor vehicle deaths in Fremont County. Two of the deaths ended with charges and convictions for the vehicle driver.
So far this year in Fremont County, there have been one-hundred and thirteen total crashes involving one-hundred and sixty-three vehicles with over thirty injuries and twenty-three possible injuries. Suspected alcohol and drug use were suspected in at least three fatality accidents.
The statistics released by the State of Iowa Department of Public Safety sadly prove that we have a lot of work to do to end drunk driving. According to NHTSA, 10,142 people were killed in drunk-driving crashes in 2019, accounting for nearly one-third of traffic crash fatalities. On average, more than 10,000 people were killed each year from 2015 to 2019 — one person was killed in a drunk-driving crash every 52 minutes in 2019. This is why Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau is working with NHTSA to remind drivers that drunk driving is not only illegal, it is a matter of life and death. Remember: Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over as you head out to the holiday festivities.
Sobering Statistics according to NHTSA:
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- Eight hundred thirty-seven people lost their lives nationally in traffic crashes involving a drunk driver during December 2019.
- During the Christmas and New Year’s Day holiday periods in 2019 alone, there were more drunk-driving-related fatalities (210) than during any other holiday period that year.
- An OWI can cost you $10,000 in attorney’s fees, fines, repairs, and lost time at work!
- Don’t be the reason someone doesn’t get home this holiday season.
Always remember to plan if you will be celebrating with an impairing substance. If you plan to indulge, arrange for a sober driver to take you home. Call a taxi, friend, or Uber! Is it your turn to be the designated driver? Take the role seriously and do not partake in alcohol or other drugs.
