According to Thomas Augustine Daly, “… the whole world is Irish on the seventeenth o’ March!” The festivities begin when the bars open for a breakfast of kegs and eggs, and all day long, revelers celebrate by drinking green beer.
Overindulging in alcohol with your friends may seem fun, but driving home while intoxicated is not. The number of people injured or arrested due to drunk driving increases significantly on St. Patrick’s Day.
The luck of the Irish is not with drunk drivers
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 290 people were killed in alcohol-related driving crashes between 2018 and 2022. That averages out to 58 individuals per year. In 2022, that number increased to 74 people and will likely increase this year. Additionally, 34% of alcohol-impaired drivers aged 21 to 34 were involved in fatal traffic accidents.
Drunk drivers were also responsible for 38% of the fatal traffic collisions between 6 p.m. and 5:59 a.m. on St. Patrick’s Day in 2022. Nearly half of those crashes occurred between midnight and 2:59 a.m.
Stay safe while celebrating
There are some things you can do to ensure that your St. Patrick’s Day celebration does not end in tragedy:
- Appoint a designated driver. This individual voluntarily refrains from consuming alcohol during the celebrations, guaranteeing that your group will safely be transported to and from the venue.
- Use a rideshare service like Lyft or Uber to drive you to the party and home again.
- Consider celebrating at home. Plan a party at your house and offer to have your friends spend the night, thus eliminating drunk driving.
However you choose to celebrate, do so with safety in mind. Should mistakes happen and you are charged with driving while under the influence (DUI) of alcohol or drugs, seek legal assistance right away.
