First off I’d like to wish everyone a SAFE and Happy New Year.

With New years Eve tomorrow and the football party season in full gear, it’s easy to enjoy the party and lose track of the amount of alcohol you’ve consumed. To help keep our loved ones safe, I’m urging everyone to realize that even driving with  ‘just a buzz‘, not just full out drunk, CAN cause accidents, it CAN destroy lives! Yes folks, buzzed driving IS drunk driving!!!

Please watch Emily’s story below!

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Here are some statistics for you taken from the Global Influence Newsletter:

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 alcohol-impaired driving crashes. In 2007, 162,493 women were arrested for a DUI, an increase of almost 29% since 1998.

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.

I’d like to invite you to follow Buzzed Driving
Twitter (@buzzeddriving)
Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/buzzeddrivingisdrunkdriving)
to get the latest updates and news.

You can also visit the Buzzed Driving website (http://buzzeddriving.adcouncil.org/) and  sign a pledge to not drive buzzed! Play an interactive game which demonstrates the difference between buzzed and drunk, and hear personal stories from people who have driven buzzed.

Please, please, please THINK BEFORE YOU DRINK & DON’T DRIVE DRUNK! Create a plan first, designate a sober driver. If you’re going to a party, give your keys to the host, call a cab or a sober friend, make arrangements to stay the night… anything but please don’t get behind that wheel even if you’ve only had a couple drinks. You just never know for sure and it’s better to be safe than sorry!

And lastly… or first… spread the word to your teens. They don’t always wait until it’s legal for them to be drinking. And they don’t always use the best judgment when getting in a car with someone else who has been! So talk to them, let them know about this campaign and urge them to take the pledge!