Winslow Township Police Will Step Up Patrols During Cinco de Mayo
Friday, April 29, 2016
1901 poster for Cinco de Mayo: "May 5, 1862 and the siege of Puebla." (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
WINSLOW TOWNSHIP APRIL 27, 2016--This year as Cinco de Mayo approaches Winslow Township Police will be aggressively patrolling Winslow Township for drunk drivers. If you plan on indulging in alcoholic beverages please have a sober driver. Data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shows that drunk-driving crash fatalities are a disturbing Cinco de Mayo trend.
From 2010-2014, more than one-third (38%) of all traffic crash fatalities during the Cinco de Mayo holiday period (6 p.m. May 4 to 5:59 a.m. May 6), on average, were drunk-driving related. That’s higher than the national daily average for drunk-driving fatalities —31 percent.
To address this concern, Winslow Township Police Department is joining with law enforcement and other partners across New Jersey and the nation to remind partygoers that drunk driving should never be part of your Cinco de Mayo plans. Across the United States, drunk driving is an epidemic. On average in 2014, someone was killed in a drunk-driving crash every 53 minutes. On Cinco de Mayo weekend, that equaled 116 lives lost in drunk-driving crashes. The family members and friends of those people killed likely wish they could go back to May 5, 2014, and say or do something to prevent the drunk-driving crash that took their loved one.
So before your first margarita, cold beer, or shot of tequila this Cinco de Mayo, make sure you have a designated sober driver or arranged another safe way home. Decide today that you won’t ever drive after drinking. And if you know someone who is about to drive drunk, step in and help. Take their keys and help them make arrangements to get home safely.