ODOT: Travel tricky enough, so don’t drive ‘buzzed’

There were no alcohol-involved fatal crashes last year in Oregon over the 102-hour Thanksgiving holiday, a first in recent years, but it was still a deadly weekend on the roads, with seven fatalities reported.

Such tragic losses mean the holiday spirit for many families can be somber. Add in this week's snowstorm, and the risk rises.

ODOT offers these keys to making it home safely:

• Plan ahead: If you’re going to be taking in anything that reduces your ability to concentrate, don’t get behind the wheel. Let a sober driver do the work.
• Help your friends and family: Are you hosting? Take steps such as putting away the alcohol hours before the party ends or having options ready for those who shouldn’t drive.
• Buckle up! Many families travel during the holidays. Make sure every passenger is properly buckled up every trip in the right safety restraint system – day and night. In 2017, across the U.S. over Thanksgiving, 57% of passenger vehicle occupants killed in crashes at night were unbuckled.

Here’s a look at our downward trend in the number of people killed in alcohol-involved fatal crashes urring the Thanksgiving holiday over the past five years in Oregon:

Remember, buzzed driving is drunk driving. Better to be safe than cause a tragedy.