Sobering Tips for the Holidays

As we now find ourselves right in the middle of the holiday season, there is no better time to address an issue that sadly plagues these joyful months: drinking and driving.

Every 48 minutes someone is killed from drunk driving, according to the United States Center for Disease Control. Drinking and driving is problematic all year round but it is during the winter months when numbers begin to skyrocket.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) reports that there will be an estimated 1,200 alcohol-related deaths this holiday season. Unfortunately, college students are at the top of the charts when it comes to drinking and driving; approximately 1 in 5 admitted to driving under the influence of alcohol (according to U.S. News and World Report.) The same article also noted an estimated 40 percent of students admitted to getting in a vehicle knowing the driver was intoxicated.

There is no doubt that over the next few weeks, celebrations will be held and toasts will be made. But unless toasting with sparkling cider, you may want to think twice before getting behind the wheel. “Statewide there is an increase in DUI incidents during the holidays, but there is also an increase in DUI enforcement and DUI prevention programs to try and minimize the associated accidents, injuries and/or deaths that occur as a result,” said California State University, Monterey Bay (CSUMB) Chief of Police Earl Lawson.

California is the leading state for federal government traffic safety funds, receiving $104 million in 2009; so you can guarantee DUI checkpoints will be up and running courtesy of the California Office of Traffic Safety.

Under the California DUI Laws & Penalties, a person driving with a blood alcohol level of .08 or greater (zero tolerance for under 21) is subject to the following consequences: 96 hours to 6 months of jail time, $390 to $1,000 in fines, 30 to 60 hours of a state approved alcohol treatment program and 1 month to 1 year suspended drivers license.

After DUI fines, impound fees, an alcohol treatment program, court costs, insurance increases and attorney fees, you will be looking at approximately $6,641 (according to the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs) and at that point, the “expensive” cab ride you could have taken will probably look like chump change.

With constantly increasing tuition and living costs, it can be assumed that students do not have $6,641 lying around to fund a DUI. Moreover, “We have a great environment where bicyclists, skateboarders, pedestrians, and vehicles share roadways,” CSUMB Chief Lawson expressed, “and there is never room for a drunk driver in a campus community.”

However, what CSUMB students do have available are several options to steer clear of such run-ins with the law. First and foremost, designated drivers are always available. It just takes one person willing to avoid alcohol consumption for a group to have a safe ride. If that is not the case in your cluster of friends there are two other affordable options for CSUMB students.

In January of 2011 Monterey-Salinas Transit (MST) launched Otters Ride Free. All that is needed is a student identification card and you are guaranteed a safe ride to your destination. For those of you off the bus route worry not because Coastal Yellow Cab services all of Monterey County while providing a 20 percent discount with the presentation of a student identification card. Thus, there is no reason for an intoxicated Otter to be behind the wheel.

Students need to be especially cautious during the holiday season. “Be safe! Watch out for yourselves, each other, and the community. Designate a driver. Have a good time, but make good decisions,” CSUMB Chief Lawson concluded.