Ring in the New Year safely with responsible driving

ODESSA, Texas — New Year’s Eve can be a fun time.

It’s also a time where you can look to the future and plan to better yourself for the new year.

You don’t want to start that plan off, however, at the police station or worse, in a car accident.

“According to the National Safety Council, so far this year, there’s been tens of thousands of alcohol related deaths here in Odessa,” Odessa Police Department Public Information Officer Corporal Steve LeSueur said. “So far this year, the Odessa Police Department has made several hundred DWI arrests. We’ve responded to several thousand crashes.”

That number only goes up as people drink more alcohol during the year’s last night.

The Police Departments in the Permian Basin are more than ready to try to limit this as much as possible.

“We will be out in extra force this coming weekend due to New Year’s coming up approaching on Monday,” LeSueur said. “We’re going to be looking for any type of alcohol related violations.”

And there’s simple solutions to avoid the driving wheel if you did have too many drinks.

“Have a plan,” LeSueur said. “You know, you can always call a trusted family member or friend. You can call an Uber, you can call a Lyft, because it’s just not worth it, because not only are you risking your own life, you’re also risking innocent people as well. If you do plan to drink, plan to be responsible. It’s just not worth it.”

It’s also not worth the trouble with the law you’d be under.

“As far as other alcohol related offenses, you know we have minors consuming, minors and possession and then we have the DWIs, public intoxication. […] At the end of the day, our goal is not to make as many arrests as we can or to issue as many citations. Our goal is to save lives and prevent people from being seriously hurt.”

And that goal starts with you, so if you do plan on drinking New Years Eve, make sure you have a plan to get home.

That way you can start off the new year on the right foot.