News and Articles

No need to rely on your lucky shamrock to get home safely on Friday, March 17, 2017 (St. Patrick's Day). No amount of luck can save you from a drunk-driving arrest or crash, but a Cab Ride Home can improve your odds. The Santa Fe County DWI Program is offering the $5 Cab Ride Home on St. Patrick’s Day from 5:30 p.m. – 2 a.m. Even if you don’t have plans yet, plan to drive sober or designate someone else to do so for you. Save the Cab Ride Home number in your phone (438-0000) so you always have a way home other than driving buzzed. The subsidized cab runs every Friday and Saturday from 5:30 p.m. – 2:30 a.m.

• WHEN YOU MAKE PLANS: A sober driver is an essential part of any party plan. Once you know where you’ll celebrate, decide whether you’re drinking or driving. You can only choose one.
• ON ST. PATRICK’S DAY: Before you take your first sip of green beer, leave your keys at home or give them to a friend. If you’re the designated driver, don’t drink. Enjoy non-alcoholic beverages. Only drive sober or ride with a sober driver.
• EVERY DAY: If you’re impaired, call for a Cab Ride Home, call a sober friend or family member, to get home safely. If you know people who are about to drive or ride while impaired, take their keys and help them make other arrangements to get to where they are going safely.

Tragically, March 17 has become one of the nation’s deadliest holidays. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, during the 2014 St. Patrick’s Day holiday period (6 p.m. March 16 to 5:59 a.m. March 18), more than a quarter (28%) of all motor vehicle crash fatalities involved drunk drivers. The early hours of March 18 didn’t fare much better: between midnight and 5:59 a.m., nearly half of all crash fatalities involved drunk drivers. In fact, from 2010 to 2014, almost three-fourths of the drunk-driving fatalities during this holiday period involved drivers who had Blood Alcohol concentration well above the .08 limit.

Also during this St. Patrick’s Day Operation Northern Safety will be running in full force. Law enforcement officers from police agencies in Rio Arriba and Santa Fe counties will be conducting checkpoints and special saturation patrols in an effort to protect us all from drunk drivers.

“Operation Northern Safety is a collaborative effort by Santa Fe City Police, Santa Fe County Sheriff, New Mexico State Police, Pojoaque Tribal Police, Rio Arriba County Sheriff, Ohkay Owingeh Tribal Police, Santa Clara Tribal Police, and Espanola City Police. It shouldn’t take a whack on the noggin with a shillelagh to see that drunk drivers won’t have any luck this weekend,” said Lupe Sanchez, Santa Fe County DWI Program Coordinator. “Take the advice of these police departments, stack the odds in your favor, don’t drink and drive.”

Drunk driving has fatal consequences. If you see a drunk driver on the road, contact local police immediately, call 9-1-1 or dial #DWI (#394). You could save a life.