Carbon County police are teaming up with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to reduce impaired driving and pedestrians hit by vehicles during St. Patrick’s Day events.

“Because St. Patrick’s Day falls on a Sunday this year, we anticipate that alcohol consumption will increase both on that day and throughout the weekend,” said officer Joel Gulla, Lehighton Police Department and Carbon County Coordinator for the North Central Regional DUI Enforcement Program.

“We ask everyone to celebrate responsibly. That should begin even before you go out to celebrate by deciding who will be your sober designated driver or whether you’ll be using a ride-sharing service or taxi,” Gulla said. “Not only is drunken driving illegal with serious financial consequences, but it is also deadly for the intoxicated driver and for other people on the road, including passengers, pedestrians, and sober drivers.”

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 13,384 people died in alcohol-impaired motor vehicle traffic crashes in 2021, accounting for 31% of all traffic fatalities in the United States that year. On average, someone died in a drunken driving crash every 39 minutes in 2021.

St. Patrick’s Day is one of the deadliest times on U.S. roads. During the 2017-2021 St. Patrick’s Day holiday period (6 p.m. March 16 to 5:59 a.m. March 18) between 2017 and 2021, 217 people died in drunk-driving crashes.

During that same period, there were 31 daytime drunk-driving fatalities.

Follow these recommendations:

• Plan ahead: If you wait until after you’ve been drinking to figure out how to get from one place to the next, you may already be too impaired to make the right choices.

• There are plenty of options to help impaired drivers get home safely, such as designating a sober driver or calling a taxi or ride-share.

• If you see a drunken driver on the road, do not hesitate to contact 911.

For more information about the Buzzed Driving Is Drunk Driving campaign, visit www.nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/drunk-driving.