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More than 11,000 alcohol-related crashes were reported last year across North Carolina. As a result, 394 people were killed, and 8,791 people were injured. These numbers are a harsh reminder that drinking and driving is a major problem in our state.

Dr. Osi Udekwu sees the aftermath of impaired driving all the time. Dr. Udekwu is a trauma surgeon at WakeMed Health & Hospitals Raleigh Campus. He is often called on to save the victims of impaired driving crashes. Sometimes, though, the damage is too severe, and he must relay to families the heartbreaking news that their loved one did not make it.

Dr. Udekwu, WakeMed, the Governor’s Highway Safety Program and the N.C. Department of Transportation have joined together to create a public service announcement urging drivers to remember the risks, and never drink and drive. Watch as he shares his powerful message by clicking on the video below.

We hope you have a wonderful holiday season, but please remember to celebrate responsibly. Never get behind the wheel if you have been drinking and never ride with anyone who is impaired.

As Dr. Udekwu says in the video, “It just doesn’t make any sense.”

The annual Labor Day “Booze It & Lose It” campaign to crack down on impaired drivers begins Aug. 20 and runs through Sept. 6. State and local law enforcement officers will be conducting stepped up checkpoints and patrols across the state.

“Booze It & Lose It” is administered by the N.C. Governor’s Highway Safety Program. The initiative began in 1994 and was created to zero in on impaired drivers with innovative and extensive anti-driving while impaired enforcement and education.

In North Carolina in 2009, there were 11,304 alcohol-related crashes resulting in 394 fatalities and 8,791 injuries.  If you plan on drinking, please plan ahead and designate a sober driver or arrange for alternative transportation. Remember, it’s “Booze It & Lose It”.

North Carolina received a “green” rating from a national organization that monitors highway safety – Advocates for Highway Safety! We are very proud of the this report which acknowledges many of the great things we are doing in our state to keep people safe on our highways.

This is the seventh annual report card which grades all 50 states on traffic safety laws. North Carolina is one of 11 states that received the highest rating having 11 out of the 15 model traffic safety laws the group recommends.

The report graded states based on their adoption and maintenance of 15 model laws which were divided into five categories: adult occupant protection, child passenger safety, graduated driver licensing, impaired driving and distracted driving.

According to the report, North Carolina received a “green” rating based on having and maintaining the following:

• Primary enforcement seat belt law that allows law enforcement officers to stop and ticket someone for violating the seat belt law rather than a weaker secondary enforcement law that requires the officer to observe another traffic violation first.
• All‐rider motorcycle helmet law that requires motorcyclists of all ages to wear a helmet.
• Child booster seat law that requires children from age 4 to 7 to be placed in a booster seat.
• Graduated drivers license law elements:

• a six‐month "holding period" that requires beginning teen drivers to be supervised by an adult licensed driver at all times and to be citation‐free before graduating to the provisional or intermediate stage;
• an intermediate stage that prohibits unsupervised nighttime driving from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. and allows no more than one non‐family teen passenger without adult supervision; and
• a cell phone and texting restriction that prohibits the use of cellular devices (handheld and hands‐free) by novice teen drivers, except in the case of an emergency.

• Child endangerment law for driving drunk with children in the motor vehicle.
• Open container ban in the passenger area of vehicles, including possession and consumption and allowing for primary enforcement.
• A ban on text messaging for all drivers, except in the case of an emergency.

The additional four traffic laws that the group recommends are: a minimum age of 16 for a learner’s permit, a supervised driving provision, an unrestricted license for teen drivers at age 18, an ignition interlock law for all offenders and mandatory blood alcohol testing for drivers killed.
 
This recognition is a great accomplishment for North Carolina and indicates that we have taken the right steps toward making our state a safer place to travel for our citizens.

Halloween is a fun occasion and a chance for everyone to be a kid again. As you celebrate the holiday this weekend, remember one mistake such as drinking and driving could turn your evening into a nightmare.

State and local law enforcement officers will be cracking down over the next several days as part of the Halloween “Booze It & Lose It” campaign. The campaign begins tomorrow and ends Nov. 1. Officers will conduct stepped-up patrols and checkpoints statewide throughout the campaign.

Last year, during Halloween weekend there were 165 alcohol-related crashes resulting in 5 fatalities and 143 injuries.

If your celebration involves alcohol, plan ahead and make arrangements for alternative transportation. If you know someone who is about to drive while impaired, take their keys and help them make other arrangements to get to where they are going safely. Remember, it’s Booze It & Lose It!