Buzzed Driving Is Drunk Driving

It's holiday party season - time to celebrate all of the exciting winter holidays with our friends and loved ones. Our mailboxes are flooded with invitations to parties and dinners and other holiday get-togethers. With these parties come food, fellowship, gifts, and in many cases, festive alcoholic drinks.

In 2008, nearly 12,000 people in the U.S. were killed in alcohol-impaired driving crashes - and during the periods around Christmas and New Year's, this number was particularly high, with 316 people killed in alchol-impaired driving crashes. In 2007, 162,493 women were arrested for a DUI, an increase of almost 29% since 1998. You can't help but wonder if lives could have been saved if people thought twice before getting behind the wheel. With the holidays approaching, it's important that drivers be reminded about the dangers of buzzed driving. Who knows...it could save a life.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHSTA) and the Ad Council are asking everyone to drive smart this holiday season and to pledge not to drive buzzed.

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