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REMARKS FOR
THE HONORABLE MARY PETERS
SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION
DRUNK DRIVING: WHAT A MISERABLE WAY TO SPEND THE HOLIDAYS
WASHINGTON, D.C.
DECEMBER 18, 2007
11 AM
Thank you, Deputy Administrator Ports, for that introduction and for your
dedication to safety. And let me also say thank you so much to Chief Patrick
Burke and the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department for hosting us and to all our
partners who are here with us today.
The countdown has begun. If you are like me, you are looking forward to these
next two weeks. It is a special time to gather with family, to celebrate with
friends.
But all the holiday parties and year-end festivities also make this one of the
deadliest and most dangerous times on America’s roadways. Each year, there is a
late December spike in fatalities, and it is tied directly to an increase in
drunk driving during the holidays.
Today, I am releasing new federal safety data that show the link with stark
numbers. They reveal a daily death toll from drunk driving crashes during the
Christmas and New Year’s holiday periods that is significantly more than for the
rest of the year.
From 2001-2005, an average of 36 people per day lost their lives as a result of
crashes involving alcohol- or drug-impaired drivers on America’s roadways. That
number, which is already far too high, jumps to a disturbing 45 deaths per day
during the Christmas period and to an alarming 54 deaths per day over the New
Year’s holiday.
If past trends hold true, more than 430 people will die in traffic crashes
involving a drunk driver over the long holiday weekends leading up to and
including Christmas and New Year’s. I just hate to think of any family going
through that kind of grief and misery in what should be a joyous season.
So we are out to break this tragic pattern with stepped up advertising and a
law-enforcement crack-down aimed at those reckless few who deserve to be
miserable – the drunk drivers.
Over the next two weeks, we are spending $7 million on national radio and
television ads. We are putting the word out that if you have had too much
holiday spirits, you had better find a safe and sober ride. Driving while drunk
is not worth the risk.
Backing up this message are these officers, and thousands like them all over the
country who will be out in full force between now and the end of the year. There
will be sobriety checkpoints, saturation patrols, and undercover officers on the
lookout for drivers who are over the limit. Anyone caught driving drunk will be
arrested and prosecuted. No exceptions.
The Traffic Section Building behind us – and buildings like it all over the
country – are where offenders who ignore the message about drinking and driving
end up. The live simulation this morning was certainly a sobering experience.
Getting arrested, handcuffed, and booked is a truly miserable way to spend the
holidays.
I know Chief Burke and these law enforcement officers here behind us would
prefer not have to arrest anyone during the holidays. But they would rather pull
the drunk drivers off the road than pull innocent victims out of mangled cars.
This is a season for Santa and sleigh bells, not sirens and prison cells. So I
truly hope everyone in America heeds the warning not to drink and drive. We
don’t want to play Grinch and spoil anyone’s holiday; we want to save lives.
That is why we are putting out this simple and clear message to would-be drunk
drivers: Take personal responsibility and stay off the road when you are in no
shape to drive, or plan on a miserable holiday.
I hope they listen. Thank you.
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