JEFFERSON CITY — Long summertime weekends offer many opportunities to make good memories. But it takes just one choice — the choice to drive impaired — to transform those.
With Juneteenth added last year, the summer gained another holiday weekend that requires smart choices.
From 2016 through 2020, more than 1,000 people lost their lives on Missouri roadways in crashes involving a substance-impaired driver. Overall, impaired driving accounts for 20 percent of traffic fatalities in the state.
Impaired driving includes drunk driving, as well as other forms of impairment, such as drug – including prescription medications – and physical conditions like drowsy driving, poor vision or reduced cognitive capabilities.
Drug-related fatalities have steadily increased over the last several years, and new challenges have presented themselves in recent years, such as the national opioid crises and increasing usage of marijuana among drivers. It’s important for all Missourians to understand it’s never OK to drive impaired, regardless of the substance.