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MADISON, Wis. - From now through New Year's Day, holiday parties can present the temptation to drive after you've done too much celebrating.
Again this year, the Wisconsin State Patrol is running its Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign. Law enforcement presence will be beefed up from now through New Year's Day with an emphasis on peak bar hours from 6 p.m. to 3 a.m.
Randy Romanski of the state Transportation Department says the department works with various organizations to try to make sure drivers have an alternate way of getting home from a holiday party. "Another thing that the Department of Transportation offers is a free Drive Sober mobile app, which includes a blood alcohol estimator, a designated driver selector find-a-ride feature that uses a smartphone's GPS to locate an alternate transportation," he states.
The app, which is offered free of charge, is available for both Android and Apple phones. You can get the download at witrafficsafety.org. According to Romanski, 73,000 people already have downloaded the new app. It can hook you up with alternate transportation if you've had too much to drink to be behind the wheel. "The great thing about the GPS function is that it will locate to where you are, so no matter where you are in the state of Wisconsin, no matter what county, if you download the Drive Sober mobile app, it will geo-locate to your exact location and it'll give you the options right within that area that you're in," he points out.
Romanski says the main goal of the Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign is not to write more tickets, but to keep impaired drivers off the road. The numbers are grim. "About one-third of all traffic deaths in the United States involve impaired drivers," he states. "Last year in Wisconsin, 143 people were killed and nearly 3,000 injured in alcohol-related crashes, and there were over 24,000 convictions for drunken driving in Wisconsin last year."
Romanski says with the number of options available this holiday season, there's no excuse for driving after you've done too much partying.
