MADD: keep the holiday spirit in your heart when driving

Having an alcoholic beverage or two is a part of many holiday celebrations. It is a statement that many people would likely say is true. Knowing that, MADD’s national President Jan Withers asks that party goers simply “decide before they even leave the home, before they even have their first drink, how they’re going to get home with a designated, non-drinking driver.”

Why the request? Because it appears as though many individuals either have trouble keeping the promise to find a sober ride home or simply don’t care. A MADD survey showed that approximately 73 percent of individuals 21 years of age or older have watched someone attempt to drive home despite being too drunk to do so.

For one high school math teacher, there is absolutely no need to tell her what can happen when someone negligently, no, recklessly chooses to get behind the wheel while intoxicated.

A holiday that was once her favorite has now turned into a horrible reminder of the loss of both of her parents and her grandmother at the hands of an individual that chose to drive drunk on Christmas Day in 2007. These constant reminders don’t just hamper this woman’s holiday; they have made her hate Christmas altogether.

According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data, there were 1,091 lives lost in a drunk driving accident this past year in the period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve.

So take care this season. For those that don’t, a Pennsylvania personal injury attorney can help victims hold these negligent drivers liable for the life-changing damages that they cause.