NHTSA launches new drunk driving campaign (w/ Video)

December 17, 2011January 4, 2012 Omar Rana NHTSA, Offbeat

A nationwide drunk driving crackdown has been started by the U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood for this year’s holiday season. Although research shows that last year there was a decline in the number of fatalities related to drunk driving, they still make up one in three deaths, yearly.

“Safety is our focus year round at DOT. But this holiday season, we’re stepping up our efforts to get drunk drivers off our roads and reminding Americans ‘drive sober, or get pulled over,'” said Secretary LaHood. “We’re making gains in our fight against drunk driving, but we cannot and will not let up.”

‘Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over’ is the campaign that the Department is using to endorse the crackdown, and with $7 million for advertising, ads featuring law officers stopping people from driving while drunk will run through January 2nd.

“The data clearly show that while drunk driving remains the primary threat to American families on our roadways, we have a path to progress,” said Withers. “Increased enforcement efforts around the holidays are a vital part of MADD’s Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving, which relies on proven drunk driving countermeasures to eliminate the leading cause of highway fatalities.”