DUBOIS – The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT), Sandy Township police and Buck’s Pizza urged designated driving as part of the national Super Bowl Impaired Driving Enforcement Initiative which runs through Sunday, Feb. 3.
As part of the mobilization, the Buck’s Pizza locations in Clearfield and DuBois emphasized celebrating safely by reminding the public that “fans don’t let fans drive drunk.”
Buck’s Pizza will participate in an advertising campaign encouraging partygoers to choose a designated driver for gameday. The materials, attached to customer’s takeout boxes, will promote the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA’s) SaferRide smartphone application.
The app gives users the option of choosing from a list of available taxi services, calling a preprogrammed contact or selecting a map of their current location.
“It starts with a choice,” said Karen Michael, PennDOT district executive. “You can make the safe and responsible choice of designating a sober driver or you can make the choice to drive impaired and put yourself, your friends and everyone on the roads in danger.”
PennDOT reminds motorists stricter penalties for repeat DUI offenders went into effect Dec. 23, 2018. Penalties for homicide by vehicle while DUI increased to five years for those with a prior DUI conviction and seven years for those with two prior DUI convictions.
A fourth DUI conviction in 10 years is now a felony offense, as is a third conviction in 10 years if the driver’s blood alcohol concentration is .16 or above.
According to preliminary PennDOT 2018 data, there were 65 crashes involving a drinking driver statewide from 6 p.m. Super Bowl Sunday to 6 a.m. the following morning. There were no fatalities in those crashes. In 2017, there were 22 drinking driver crashes and no fatalities during the same time frame.
For more information on the dangers and consequences of impaired driving, visit www.penndot.gov/safety.
For regional traffic updates, follow www.twitter.com/511PAAltoona, www.twitter.com/511PAErie, www.twitter.com/511PAStateCOLL,.
