As Coloradans prepare to celebrate the new year, the State Patrol advises partygoers to plan ahead, especially when it come to getting a sober ride home.

December is one of the biggest months of the year for DUIs and alcohol-related crashes, officials said in a news release. Last December, state troopers issued 388 DUI citations and investigated 44 impairment-related fatal and injury crashes.

“Historically, December is a busy month for law enforcement due to poor decision-making at holiday parties which leads to impaired drivers on Colorado’s highways and community streets,” said Col. Matthew C. Packard, chief of the Colorado State Patrol. “When you fail to call a rideshare or a sober friend, you endanger every motorist and pedestrian on your path home.”

Colorado State Patrol announced that it will stepping up its traffic enforcement efforts on New Year’s Eve, with an increased presence on the roads and a vigilant eye on erratic driving.

CSP data show that many impaired drivers fail to wear their seat belts. Intoxicated drivers can struggle with maintaining consistent speed, erratic braking and compromised reflexes, officials said. Additionally, they often drift between lanes, increasing the risk of a head-on collision or running another motorist off the road.

All these things can be avoided, CSP says, if partygoers spend a little time planning ahead.

“We want you to live to celebrate the holidays,” Packard said. “If you are going out, get a sober ride.”

If a designated driver or rideshare program isn’t a viable option in Colorado Springs, McDivitt Law Firm has resumed its Safe Ride Home program, offering free cab rides on New Year’s Eve from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. Simply hail a cab and McDivitt will pick up the bill.

The law firm cautions that the service doesn’t exist to ferry New Year’s Eve partiers from bar to bar. It will only pay for a ride between the drinking establishment and the customer’s home.

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