Ring in the New Year with Safe Driving and Smarter Choices

This holiday season has been detrimental when it comes to drunk driving fatalities. When it comes to celebrating, drinking is usually involved, and it changes lives when the decision turns for the worst.

Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office recently re-shared a video as a reminder to make smarter and safer choices. “An impaired driver is probably one of the most dangerous and potentially lethal criminals that we have to deal with as police officers,” Sheriff Craig Webre said. He shared that nearly 40 years ago as a new State Police Trooper, the very first fatal crash that he investigated was a classic case where a drunk driver crossed the center line and caused a head-on collision in the early morning hours. He recounted it as a horrific scene and both drivers were killed. “The thing that has stuck with me for forty years,” he said,” has to do with the father of the victim who came to the scene and saw his son for the last time deceased and shared with me that his son and his wife had recently had their first child, a little girl.” The victim was on his way home after working a night shift and Webre remembered the father talking about how much his son loved spending time with his new baby and family. “What stuck with me was the decision to drink and drive destroyed that family. I ponder where that young girl is today,” he said, “and how her life, her mother’s life, her family’s life, and even the lives of the perpetrator was so dramatically altered because of the decision to drink and drive.”

Webre applauded the organization Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) for bringing a focus to the crime for decades. He said they “have been so instrumental in making sure that policies supporting the enforcement of drunk driving laws and legislation have been active across this country.”

The Louisiana State Police Troop C has investigated 45 fatal crashes resulting in 59 deaths in 2021. In a recent release, troopers urge drivers to take precautions to reduce crashes and prevent holiday tragedies which they recognize as a responsibility of both law enforcement and the public. Steps as simple as designating a sober driver, putting on seat belts, properly restraining children, and being an attentive driver could help save lives.

Another option in lower Lafouche is Port Fourchon “Safe Ride Home for the Holidays”: For a Safe-Ride-Home, please call the Harbor Police dispatch at (985) 396-3911 and advise them where you are and where you need to be safely delivered. A Harbor Police Officer will make sure that you return to your family safely.