MassDOT, MAPFRE Insurance Reminder: Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over 

August is the height of summer vacation season with trips to Western Massachusetts, the lakes, and the Cape and the islands. If you celebrate with barbeques and beach picnics, plan to designate a sober driver, or use a rideshare. The 2022 impaired driving national enforcement mobilization “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” goes into effect across the country from August 17 to September 5, 2022. It focuses on law enforcement and their goal to stop drunk drivers, while highlighting a constant police presence searching for drunk drivers as a way of deterring people from drinking and driving. One of the deadliest and most often committed -- yet preventable -- of crimes (impaired driving), has been a serious safety epidemic in the Bay State as well as across the country.

During the Labor Day holiday, which includes the end of summertime and the long holiday weekend, the U.S Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is working alongside the law enforcement community to decrease impaired driving. NHTSA and Local Law Enforcement want drivers to understand the importance of planning ahead during the holiday weekend, if alcohol is involved. NHTSA shares some Labor Day statistics for drivers along with the consequences that could come with drunk driving:

• During the 2020 Labor Day holiday period, 38% of fatalities in traffic crashes involved a drunk driver.
• During the 2020 Labor Day holiday period, there were 530 crash fatalities nationwide. 46% of those fatalities involved drivers who had been drinking.
• Among drivers between the ages of 21 and 43 who were killed in crashes over the Labor Day holiday period in 2020, 44% of those drivers were drunk, with BACs of .08 or higher.
• On average, a DUI can set you back $10,000 in attorney’s fees, fines, court costs, lost time at work, higher insurance rates, and more.
• If you’re caught drinking and driving, you can face jail time.
• Drinking and driving can cause you to lose your driver’s license and your vehicle.

Always remember to plan ahead as you enjoy the end of summer and the Labor Day holiday weekend. NHTSA offers some advice to those traveling on the roadways:

• Remember that it is never OK to drink and drive. Even if you’ve had only one alcoholic beverage, designate a sober driver or plan to use public transportation or a ride service to get home safely.
• If available, use your community’s sober ride program.
• If you see a drunk driver on the road, contact your Local Law Enforcement.
• Take the keys away from any friends who have been drinking and are about to drive. Make arrangements to get your friends home safely.

MassDOT’s Highway Assistance Program sponsored by MAPFRE Insurance is on patrol to help year-round. Patrol operators monitor some of the state’s busiest highways around Metro Boston, Worcester, Springfield and Cape Cod (seasonal). The Highway Assistance Patrol covers 13 major state roadways and interstates, the Emergency Service Patrol covers the Mass Pike (I-90) from New York to Boston and the Incident Response Operators cover the Metropolitan Highway System and tunnels. The Highway Assistance Patrol is in service Monday–Friday between the hours of 6 a.m.–10 a.m. and 3 p.m.–7 p.m. During holidays, there are extended routes in heavy traffic areas. On I-90, and in Boston’s tunnel system, assistance is provided 24 hours per day, 7 days a week.

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Your friends at MAPFRE Insurance