Over the past five years in Maryland, nearly 800 people have lost their lives and nearly 15,300 have been injured in crashes involving an impaired driver. Speeding, impaired driving and not wearing a seat belt are among the most common contributing factors in motor vehicle fatalities. Many of these deaths were preventable.<\/p>\n
If you are attending a Fourth of July gathering:<\/strong> If you are hosting a Fourth of July gathering:<\/strong> ###<\/p>\n CONTACT: Office of Media Communications, msp.media@maryland.gov<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" (PIKESVILLE, MD) \u2014 Maryland State Police will bolster enforcement efforts over the Fourth of July weekend to prevent dangerous driving behaviors and save lives as more motorists are expected to travel this holiday. State troopers from 23 barracks, including members of the State Police Impaired Driving Reduction Effort Team, known as the SPIDRE team, will Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":162,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[28,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-releases","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/msp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/msp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/msp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/msp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/162"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/msp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27751"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/msp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27751\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27753,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/msp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27751\/revisions\/27753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/msp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/msp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/msp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\u2022 Designate a sober driver in advance and give that person your car keys.
\u2022 If you\u2019re planning on driving, stay sober. \u00a0
\u2022 Consider using public transportation. Call a taxi or use a ride-share service if you don\u2019t have a sober driver.
\u2022 Don\u2019t let a friend drive if you think they are impaired.
\u2022 If you see someone who you believe is driving impaired, then call the police.
\u2022 Always buckle up.
\u2022 Don\u2019t drive distracted, text, or use a cell phone that is not hands-free.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Remember, you can be held liable if someone you served alcohol to ends up in an impaired-driving crash.
\u2022 Serve plenty of food and non-alcoholic beverages
\u2022 Ensure sober drivers or alternative modes of transportation are set up in advance for guests who are not planning to stay sober.
\u2022 Have contact information for local taxi companies readily available.
\u2022 Take the keys away from anyone who is thinking of driving impaired.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/msp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2023\/06\/IMG_0120-scaled.jpg\")
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