Stay safe on the roads

Law enforcement officials caution those imbibing to have a transportation plan ready

There’s certainly no shortage of places to catch a cold one or two in Northeast Ohio, but even if you’re just grabbing that many, law enforcement officials warn against driving.

“Don’t wait until you’ve already been drinking to make your transportation decision,” Geauga County Sheriff Scott Hildenbrand said in a statement.

“Designate your sober driver in advance, and never get behind the wheel if you’ve been drinking.”

Buzzed driving, he added, is drunk driving.

While drunk driving fatalities have fallen by a third in the past three decades, 28 people in the United States die each day from alcohol-related crashes, according to the National Traffic Highway Safety Administration.

These deaths and damages cost $52 billion each year, according to the NTHSA.

“Alcohol is a substance that reduces the function of the brain, impairing thinking, reasoning and muscle coordination,” the NTHSA stated.

“All these abilities are essential to operating a vehicle safely.”

Even with a blood-alcohol content of just .02 — which is .06 under the legal limit – drivers see some loss of judgement, the NTHSA states.

Drivers have a decline in visual function and decline in ability to do two tasks at the same time.

With a BAC of .08, muscle coordination can be affected and it can become harder to detect danger and judgement, self-control and memory are impaired, according to the agency.

The NTHSA offers the following tips to prevent drunk driving:

• If you will be drinking, plan on not driving. Plan your safe ride home before you start the party. Designate a sober driver ahead of time.

• If you become intoxicated, do not drive for any reason. Call a taxi, phone a sober friend or family member, use public transportation, etc... Also, try NHTSA’s SaferRide mobile app, which allows users to call a taxi or friend and identify their location so they can be picked up.

• If someone you know has been drinking, do not let that person get behind the wheel. Take their keys, take them home, or help them arrange a sober ride.

• If you see an impaired driver on the road, contact your local law enforcement. Your actions could help save someone’s life.

• Always wear your seat belt — it’s your best defense against impaired drivers.

According to the Ohio Highway Patrol, there were 1,029 total fatal crashes in 2015 resulting in 1,110 deaths. Of that total, 364 were OVI related and accounted for 400 deaths. State troopers made 24,676 OVI arrests that year.

In 2014, there were 312 fatal OVI related crashes killing 346 people.

Both Lake and Geauga counties received more than $40,000 in traffic safety grant funds for 2017. The funds come from the Ohio Traffic Safety Office and are used for extra patrols on county roads to reduce serious traffic crashes and deaths. Among other things, the funds help with the detection and apprehension of impaired drivers.

The Geauga County Sheriff’s Office made 125 arrests for impaired driving in 2015.

Between 2010 and 2014 an average of 10,000 people died in drunk-driving crashes. Approximately one-third of all fatal crashes in the U.S. involve a driver with a BAC over the legal limit.

“These needless deaths could have been prevented,” Hildenbrand said.

METRO CREATIVE CONNECTION