(Falls Church, VA, Monday, December 19, 2022) –Virginia’s Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over DUI enforcement and public education campaign is back on Virginia’s roads this holiday season to close out its 21st year of deterring drunk driving. Formerly known as Checkpoint Strikeforce, the campaign combines law enforcement efforts with research-based outreach to remind Virginians to plan for a safe ride home after drinking.

In the Commonwealth alone, 440 Virginians were injured and 13 Virginians lost their lives because of alcohol-related crashes between Thanksgiving 2021 and New Year’s Day 2022.

Since the campaign’s launch in 2001, alcohol-related crashes have decreased by 40%, fatalities have decreased by 31%, and injuries have nearly halved. There is still more work to be done to end the epidemic of drunk driving once and for all.

John Saunders, Director of Highway Safety Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles has advice for keeping impaired drivers off the road.

SOUNDBITE #1:

THE HOLIDAY SEASON SHOULD BE A TIME FOR CELEBRATION WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS, BUT ALL TOO OFTEN MANY VIRGINIANS SPEND THEIR HOLIDAYS MISSING LOVED ONES KILLED BY DRUNK DRIVING. BETWEEN THANKSGIVING TWENTY-TWENTY-ONE AND NEW YEAR’S DAY TWENTY TWENTY-TWO, THIRTEEN VIRGINIANS LOST THEIR LIVES IN ALCOHOL-RELATED CRASHES. IF YOU’RE OLD ENOUGH TO DRINK, ACT LIKE IT AND GET A SAFE RIDE HOME. PROTECT YOURSELF AND YOUR FELLOW VIRGINIANS.

SOUNDBITE #2:

THE RESEARCH IS CLEAR–WINTER HOLIDAYS ARE ONE OF THE MOST DANGEROUS TIMES OF THE YEAR DUE TO ALCOHOL-RELATED CRASHES. VIRGINIA’S DRIVE SOBER OR GET PULLED OVER CAMPAIGN AND THE VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES WANT TO MAKE SURE EVERYONE DOES THEIR PART TO STAY SAFE AND STOP THESE TRAGEDIES AT THE SOURCE.

To learn more, visit www.actlikeit.org.