This Labor Day will be unique in Pennsylvania history due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sacrifices have been made across our entire country and by thousands of Pennsylvanians to protect and save lives. Highway safety is about saving lives as well.

It comes down to choices made by drivers to be sober when they get behind the wheel or mount a motorcycle.

The crash statistics from the Labor Day Enforcement period in 2019 are a sobering reminder of the problem.

From Aug. 30 through Sept. 8, 2019, there were 2,995 crashes on Pennsylvania’s roadways resulting in 46 fatalities and 165 serious injuries. Impaired drivers were responsible for 399 of those crashes - a mere 13 percent; however, impaired drivers accounted for 22 fatalities and 66 serious injuries or roughly 47 percent of the fatalities and 40 percent of all serious injuries.

The numbers are staggering - almost one half of all the fatalities and four out of every ten people seriously injured were a direct result of impaired driving. These are deaths and injuries that never should have happened.

Unfortunately, impaired drivers and impaired driving incidents will increase along with the number of cars on Pennsylvania’s roadways as life slowly returns to routine activities and celebrations.

C. Stephen Erni, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania DUI Association, shed light on the continuing challenge impaired drivers present “The COVID-19 pandemic and recent events in this country are certainly unprecedented and have changed many aspects of law enforcement; however, impaired driving and the dangers it presents to the motoring public have not changed.

As more of our fellow citizens return to the highway, unfortunately, so will impaired drivers. The cost in lives and human suffering is evident looking at the Pennsylvania crash statistics from Labor Day 2019.

Drinking and driving is never acceptable and prescription medications and other drugs can impair a driver’s abilities to safely operate a motor vehicle - these are facts and it is the responsibility of all motorists to know them.”

Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over, Buzzed Driving is Drunken Driving, If You Feel Different, You Drive Different, DUI, You Can’t Afford It: we’re all familiar with the campaign slogans, but still people are driving impaired. The message is clear though - impaired driving is illegal and law enforcement will arrest you.

Motorists are reminded to plan ahead - there are multiple options available to avoid driving impaired: Uber, Lyft, public transportation, designated drivers and more, it’s just a matter of a driver making arrangements in advance of consuming alcoholic beverages or taking potentially impairing drugs or prescription medications.

Just as many citizens adjusted their lives to protect their family and others, we can all work together this Labor Day to eliminate the senseless tragedies resulting from impaired driving on Pennsylvania’s highways. It’s about saving lives.