It’s Christmas and your son gives you a hug before he heads home for the evening.
In the middle of the night, an officer knocks on your door, telling you your son is dead.
He was drunk when he crashed his vehicle.
The joy of the holidays can quickly change with poor, selfish decisions. Christmas has the second highest percentage of drunk driving-related fatalities (35.3 percent) during a major holiday period, followed by Thanksgiving (33.3 percent).
The July 4 holiday has the highest percentage at 45.5 percent.
To help keep the roads safe during the holidays, local and county police will be participating with law enforcement statewide in an extra DWI enforcement campaign starting Nov. 23 and on weekends through Dec. 30.
Officers, deputies and troopers from more than 300 agencies will be working overtime with funding provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The Minnesota Department of Public Safety Office of Traffic Safety coordinates the extra enforcement and education effort.
Local agencies participating in the statewide campaign are Isanti County Sheriff’s Department, Cambridge Police Department, Braham Police Department, Isanti Police Department.
“A drunk driving death is 100 percent avoidable. Nobody should get behind the wheel after drinking,” said Bob Bollenbeck, TZD Coordinator. “The holidays are a time for selfless acts that help others. If you have ever driven after drinking, commit to a New Year’s resolution of sober driving. It’ll be the greatest gift you’ll ever give to family, friends and those you share the road with every day.”
Learning from history
Summer enforcement is behind us but there are lessons to be learned from drivers’ poor choices as Minnesotans begin celebrating the holidays. Troopers, sheriff deputies and police made 1,351 DWI arrests during the end-of-summer extra enforcement campaign.
Committing to a sober drive is never too late.
Summer DWI campaign arrests included:
• Winona County Sheriff’s Office arrested a driver for DWI who had his intoxicated brother as a passenger. The brother was arrested for DWI less than an hour later while driving the same vehicle.
• Two Harbors Police arrested a motorist for fleeing and DWI after striking a firetruck and squad car at a crash scene. During the pursuit, the driver struck two more squad cars.
• Hutchinson Police arrested an individual who attempted to drive through a roundabout and got stuck.