AAA Kansas provides tips for party-goers and party hosts to avoid drunk driving tragedy
WICHITA – Festivities for Sunday’s big game are fast approaching, with scores of Chiefs fans and others making plans for where to watch and what they will eat and drink. AAA Kansas advises party planners and football fans to prepare by designating a sober driver or arranging for alternate transportation options before the party starts.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),alcohol-impaired traffic fatalities often spike on holidays and popular drinking days, like Super Bowl Sunday. Every day, about 32 people in the U.S die in drunk driving crashes – that’s one person every 45 minutes. In 2020, 11,654 people nationwide died in alcohol-impaired driving traffic crashes – a 14% increase from 2019. These deaths were all preventable.
The Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) tracks crash statistics on Super Bowl weekend. From 2017 to 2021, during the 78-hour reporting period surrounding the big game, there were an average of 25 alcohol-related crashes, resulting in an average of,13 injuries and 16 instances of property damage only each year. According to KDOT Super Bowl weekend statistics from 2021, the most recent official data available, there were 33 alcohol-related crashes, resulting in 19 instances of property damage, 22 people injured and one fatality.
Drunk driving is an ongoing and significant traffic safety problem. For the year 2021, 86 people were killed on Kansas roads in alcohol-related crashes, accounting for 20.3% of all crash fatalities in the state.
“Drinking and driving is not a game – it’s a deadly combination and a crime,” said Shawn Steward, AAA Kansas spokesman. “Make your winning drive a sober one and designate a driver or make plans for a ride share or cab home before indulging in alcohol. Drunk driving only leads to disaster and tragedy, and it is 100 percent preventable.”
Tips for a safe big game party
Be a responsible party-goer:
●If you plan to drive, don’t drink.
●If you plan to drink, select a designated driver and give them your car keys. If you don’t have a designated driver, ask a sober friend for a ride home; arrange a ride share or cab, or stay where you are and sleep it off until you are sober.
●Buckle up—it’s your best defense against other impaired drivers.
Be a responsible host:
●Collect all drivers' keys in a bowl when guests arrive.
●Designate someone who's not drinking to assess guests when they are ready to leave and make sure they are not intoxicated. The "roadwise" host is in charge of the bowl of keys and hands them out only to those who aren't showing signs of intoxication.
●Offer food and non-alcoholic beverages.
●Mix drinks yourself; avoid open bars. Limit mixing drinks with carbonated beverages; they increase alcohol absorption.
●Stop serving alcohol at the end of the third quarter of the game. Don’t offer “one for the road.” Only TIME can make guests sober- not coffee or cold showers. It takes about 1 hour to burn off an average drink, 5 ounces of wine, 12 ounces of beer or 1 ½ ounces of liquor. They all contain about the same amount of alcohol.
●Guests who are sleepy, giddy, overly talkative or uncoordinated could be too impaired to drive. Arrange rides for them or invite them to sleep over. If guests get irate, 'hide' their keys until they find a ride home.
●The first ability affected by alcohol is judgment and decision-making. For some people, it only takes one drink for reflexes and judgment needed for driving to be impaired. It's not a weakness. It's a reality.
●If a guest would be unsafe behind the wheel, call a cab or ride-share service such as Lyft or Uber.
About AAA
AAA provides automotive, travel, and insurance services to more than 63 million members nationwide and more than 350,000 members in Kansas. AAA advocates for the safety and mobility of its members and has been committed to outstanding road service for more than 100 years. AAA is a non-stock, membership corporation working on behalf of motorists, who can map a route, access a COVID travel restriction map, find local gas prices and electric vehicle charging stations, discover discounts, book a hotel, and track their roadside assistance service with the AAA Mobile app (AAA.com/mobile) for iPhone, iPad and Android. For more information on joining or renewing a Membership, visit www.AAA.com.