March 17 is One of the Deadliest Days on America's Roadways. Remind Your Drivers to be Extra Careful.
Saint Patrick's Day 2023 falls on a Friday this year, which means the celebrations will likely last long into the weekend. And by celebrations, we mean drinking, often in excess.
At its best, a drunken night out can lead to a nasty hangover the next day. But at its worst, a night of drinking can lead to serious injury or even death if someone decides to get behind the wheel of a motor vehicle while intoxicated.
This isn't news to anyone reading this article, of course. Still, it's important to revisit the reality that can result from a night of drunken revelry and reiterate the facts to those around us, especially any drivers hitting the road this weekend.
Below, we're sharing important truck driving safety messages:
- Drunk driving stats related to Saint Patrick's Day
- Social media posts for Facebook and Twitter that can help boost awareness
- Why now is a great time to implement MVR monitoring (if you haven't already)
Drunk driving increases on Saint Patrick's Day.
Because it's one of the biggest drinking days of the year, Saint Patrick's Day is also one of the deadliest days on America's roadways.
According to a fact sheet called "Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving" published by Traffic Safety Marketing under the DOT, "During the 2016-2020 St. Patrick's Day holiday period (6 p.m. March 16 to 5:59 a.m. March 18), 287 lives were lost in drunk-driving crashes."
Of course, drunk driving is a problem that plagues our nation 365 days a year, not just on March 17. As Traffic Safety Marketing reports, "Approximately one-third of all traffic crash fatalities in the United States involve drunk drivers (with BACs at or above .08). In 2020, there were 11,654 people killed in drunk-driving crashes."
In addition to the emotional toll, these accidents have an economic impact as well. Impaired driving costs the U.S. $44 billion annually. And as the DOT is quick to point out, buzzed driving is impaired driving. You don't need to be falling down drunk to be a huge risk behind the wheel.
It's important for employers to remind employees—especially drivers—about these risks during big holiday weekends like Saint Paddy's Day.
Tweets and Facebook posts you can share to boost awareness & other truck driving safety messages.
No doubt, some of your employees, including your truck drivers, follow you on social media. You can remind them about taking extra precautions during Saint Patrick's Day by sharing the following tweets and Facebook posts developed by the Traffic Safety Marketing arm of the DOT.
Twitter
- #StPatricksDay ✔️ list:
🍀 Coordinate your #DesignatedDriver.
🍀 Remember to wear green!
🍀 Enjoy your green beer. 🍺
🍀 #BuzzedDriving Is Drunk Driving.
- This #StPatricksDay, don't push your luck! 🍀 If you drink, don't drive. #BuzzedDriving Is Drunk Driving.
- Ewe 🐑 drink, ewe 🐑 drive, ewe 🐑 pay the price. #BuzzedDriving Is Drunk Driving.
- In 2020, 37 people lost their lives in drunk-driving crashes during #StPatricksDay. Don't be a stat, be a sober driver: #BuzzedDriving Is Drunk Driving.
- 287 people were killed in drunk-driving crashes during the #StPatricksDay holiday period between 2016 and 2020. #BuzzedDriving Is Drunk Driving.
- In 2020, 1 person was killed every 45 minutes by a drunk driver on our nation's roads. This #StPatricksDay, and every day, remember: #BuzzedDriving Is Drunk Driving.
Facebook
- St. Patrick's Day ✔️ list:
🍀 Coordinate your #DesignatedDriver.
🍀 Remember to wear green!
🍀 Enjoy your green beer. 🍺
🍀 #BuzzedDriving Is Drunk Driving.
- Don't push your luck this St. Patrick's Day! 🍀 If you drink, don't drive. Remember: #BuzzedDriving Is Drunk Driving.
- Ewe drink 🐑, ewe 🐑 drive, ewe 🐑 pay the price. #BuzzedDriving Is Drunk Driving.
- In 2020, 37 people lost their lives in drunk-driving crashes during #StPatricksDay. Don't be a stat, be a sober driver: #BuzzedDriving Is Drunk Driving.
- 287 people were killed in drunk-driving crashes during the St. Patrick's Day holiday period between 2016 and 2020. #BuzzedDriving Is Drunk Driving.
- In 2020, 1 person was killed every 45 minutes by a drunk driver on our nation's roads. This #StPatricksDay, and every day, remember: #BuzzedDriving Is Drunk Driving.
Use MVR monitoring on all your drivers.
We can't stress this enough: Running pre-employment MVR checks on new hires and annual MVR checks on current employees isn't enough. Yes, it might be enough in terms of DOT compliance. But it's NOT enough to protect your drivers, other people on the roadways, or your company on a go-forward basis.
Remember, an MVR check looks backward—typically three years. If the person's driving record is clean, great. But what happens if they get a speeding ticket a week from now? Or they're in a fender bender a month out? Or they're pulled over for drunk driving after a Saint Paddy's Day party?
Will your truck driver inform you about the infraction before they get behind the wheel of one of your rigs? Some might. Others might not. And sure, you might get to the next annual MVR check on that driver without anything "bad" happening.
But what if something bad does happen in the interim? What if they get in an accident where someone is seriously injured or dies? We don't have to tell you about the rise of nuclear verdicts against trucking companies. Or skyrocketing insurance premiums. Or bad press.
Why risk it? Especially when there's a simple, budget-friendly solution: MVR monitoring.
After you do the initial MVR check on a driver, MVR monitoring works quietly in the background. You're only alerted if something changes on a driver's record. (And the change isn't necessarily negative; it could be a positive change, like a license renewal.)
We can get you up and running with MVR monitoring quickly.
Manage and monitor all items for driver qualification files in Dash, our convenient, easy-to-use driver management solution. With Dash, you can recruit, screen, and onboard your drivers quickly while easily setting up things like compliant MVR monitoring from the same dashboard.
Request a demo of Dash and take a very BIG step in making sure you're maintaining the safest fleet of drivers possible—no matter the season or holiday.
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