Dover –  As 2013 comes to a close, the Office of Highway Safety (OHS) is reminding motorists to celebrate the holidays responsibly and designate a sober driver because ‘Buzzed Driving Is Drunk Driving’.

There are two DUI checkpoints scheduled as follows:

• Friday December 27th   Newark ( DSP & New Castle County DUI Task Force)- checkpoint

• Tuesday December 31^st    Newark (New Castle County DUI Task Force)- checkpoint

The Safe Family Holiday DUI Victim tree received 1 more red bulb this week. There is now a total of 9 green bulbs and 2 red bulb on each DUI Victim tree.  Each green bulb represents an alcohol related injury and a red bulb represents an alcohol related fatality on Delaware roadways between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day.  Last year, 3 people were killed and 54 were injured in alcohol-related crashes in Delaware during the holiday season.

Since January 1^st of this year, 96 people have lost their lives on Delaware roadways in 92 fatal traffic crashes, compared to 106 people killed in 101 fatal traffic crashes this time last year.  Aggressive driving behaviors, including speeding, running stop signs, and not granting right of way, have contributed to 34% of the fatal traffic crashes so far this year. To date alcohol consumption has been involved in 35% of the traffic deaths, and 47% of vehicle occupant fatalities were individuals not wearing their seat belts.

For more information on these or any of our other Safe Family Holiday campaign efforts follow us on Twitter @DEHighwaySafe, visit our website for updates at www.ohs.delaware.gov, www.DUIRealTime.com/Safe-Holidays or Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ArriveAliveDE.

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