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SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN — This holiday season, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is partnering with the Berrien County Sheriff’s Office to share the message about the dangers of drunk driving.

NHTSA and the Berrien County Sheriff’s Office want all drivers to remember this lifesaving message: Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over. In support of the law enforcement community’s dedication to protecting the lives of residents in their communities, you’ll see officers working together Dec. 17 through Jan. 1, 2022, to take drunk drivers off the roads.

According to the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, in 2020, there were 9,078 alcohol-involved crashes in Michigan with 326 alcohol-involved fatalities statewide. And national data from NHTSA shows that, on average, more than 10,000 people were killed each year from 2015 to 2019. That is why the Berrien County Sheriff’s Office is working with NHTSA to remind drivers that drunk driving is not only illegal, it is a matter of life and death, officials said.

From 2016 to 2020, during the Christmas and New Year’s holiday period, 84 people were killed in traffic crashes in Michigan, including 34 people who died in alcohol-involved crashes. Over the 2020 holiday in Michigan, 15 people died in crashes.

“It is essential to plan a sober ride home before you ever leave for a party. There are many resources to get you home safely.  There are no excuses for drunk driving,” officials said.