NHTSA Launches Winter Holiday “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” Campaign

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration today launched its winter holiday Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over national enforcement mobilization campaign. This year’s campaign reminds drivers, “Don’t Pass on a Sober Ride.”

Alcohol-impaired driving remains a leading cause of fatal traffic crashes in the United States, especially during the holiday season. In 2022, 13,524 people were killed in alcohol-impaired driving crashes, making up 32 percent of all traffic fatalities. On average, one person died every 39 minutes in an alcohol-impaired driving crash in 2022.

NHTSA Deputy Administrator Sophie Shulman kicked off the campaign at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum with Col. Jeff Glover, Arizona Department of Public Safety Director and National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives President; Matt Leinart, Heisman Trophy winner and Fox Sports college football analyst; and Tara Repka Flores, an impaired driving prevention advocate.

“I urge everyone to do their part to help save lives this holiday season. Plan a safe and sober ride home,” Deputy Administrator Shulman said. “If you drive impaired by alcohol or drugs, you’re putting yourself and others around you at risk, and the consequences can be devastating. Let’s make this holiday season a memorable one for all the right reasons.”

In addition to Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over, the campaign also highlights the message, If You Feel Different, You Drive Different. Drive High, Get a DUI. This initiative aligns with the Department’s National Roadway Safety Strategy, a comprehensive approach to significantly reducing serious injuries and deaths on our nation’s highways, roads, and streets with the goal of reaching zero road fatalities.

The campaign is supported by a more than $14 million national media buy that runs from Dec. 11, 2024, through Jan. 1, 2025, with TV, radio and digital ads. As part of the high-visibility enforcement campaign, law enforcement officers will work with their communities to prevent alcohol- and drug-impaired driving during this holiday season.

NHTSA urges everyone to plan a safe ride home and to always wear a seat belt this holiday season. Driving impaired by any substance — alcohol or other drugs, whether legal or illegal — is against the law in all 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. If you see an impaired driver on the road, call 911.

For more information on impaired driving, please visit NHTSA.gov/DrunkDriving and NHTSA.gov/DrugImpairedDriving. For more campaign materials, please visit TrafficSafetyMarketing.gov.