Jamie Dionne, the director of the Impaired Driving Safety Program at The Maine Bureau of Highway Safety. Since 1975, Maine’s traffic fatalities have been steadily declining, but last year there was a slight uptick in fatal car crashes compared to 2018. While Maine’s deaths increased in that one year period, national traffic fatalities saw a decrease according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The Bureau of Highway Safety would like to see Maine’s upwards trend reversed in 2020. Safe driving this Labor Day Weekend is vital to this mission.

MeBHS recommends these safe alternatives to driving impaired:

• Remember that it is never okay to drive impaired on drugs or alcohol. Even if you’ve had only one alcoholic beverage, play it safe and designate a sober driver or plan to use public transportation or a ride sharing service to get home safely.

• Download NHTSA’s SaferRide mobile app, available on Google Play for Android devices: (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nhtsa.SaferRide&hl=en), and Apple’s iTunes Store for iOS devices: (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/saferride/id950774008?mt=8). SaferRide allows users to call a taxi or a predetermined friend and identifies the user’s location so they can be picked up.
• If you see or suspect an impaired driver on the road, contact your local law enforcement for help. 
• Have a friend who is about to drive impaired? Take the keys away and make arrangements to get your friend home safely.