Thanksgiving is the #1 Drunk Driving Holiday

Most people, when asked which holiday has the highest frequency of drunk driving fatalities in the U.S., will quickly say New Year's Eve. They're wrong -- it's Thanksgiving.

Car travel is expected to rise this weekend over last year, with 38 million Americans traveling more than 50 miles for a Thanksgiving celebration.  Nearly 400 people died in crashes in the U.S. last year over the five-day Thanksgiving holiday and most of these accidents involved alcohol. Almost 16,000 people died in drunk-driving crashes last year alone.

This holiday weekend is a wonderful time to be with family and friends, but please remember to be safe.

There is a bright side to this story, though. This year has seen an increase in programs aimed at preventing driving under the influence -- and there's a good chance that DUI deaths will continue to fall in the year ahead. It appears that we've turned a corner on driving under the influence, and I think interlock devices have played a role in the progress.

A new law signed this week in New York is an example of both good DUI prevention policies and the mistaken long sentences that got our criminal justice system into the mess it's in.

Last Wednesday, NY Gov. David Patterson signed what is being called the "nation's toughest" DUI bill into law. The bill has two main prongs -- long sentences for people convicted of driving under the influence with a child in the car and mandatory in-car breathalyzers after a first offense.

It's a huge mistake to drive drunk with a kid in the car and a horrible tragedy when a child dies from this kind of neglience. But if our criminal justice fiasco over three decades has taught us anything, it's that long sentences don't deter crime. Long sentences aimed at acting as a deterrent for people who are drunk and aren't thinking straight don't make any sense.

The breathalyzers (called interlock devices) are a great idea, on the other hand, and I fully support this reform. I wrote last month about the movement nationwide toward interlock after a first offense, and the dishonest opposition from the alcohol industry. When technology can be used to prevent first-time offenders from committing the crime again, and the technology has only a modest cost as a downside. Interlocks are an effective prevention device, and our DUI policy should be focused on expanding their use.

Hopefully, this Thanksgiving will be safer than the last and we're on our way to a world with fewer DUI fatalities.

Have a safe, happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

Photo by autiscy