Driving Sober is Your Safest Bet: Fans Don’t Let Fans Drive Drunk

Published on February 07, 2025

ARLINGTON, Va. – For Super Bowl LIX on Sunday, February 9, 2025, the Arlington County Police Department and the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) are teaming up to remind drivers: Fans Don’t Let Fans Drive Drunk. Get ahead of the game and create your plan now. If you’re going out to a Super Bowl party and you plan to drink alcohol, make sure you plan for a designated driver to get you home safely at the end of the night. If you’re hosting a party, prepare plenty of food and non-alcoholic drink options for your guests, especially for the designated drivers.

NHTSA’s Fans Don’t Let Fans Drive Drunk campaign encourages spectators to make plans ahead of game time that will prevent them from getting behind the wheel of a vehicle after drinking. According to data from NHTSA, in 2022, there were 13,524 people killed in alcohol-impaired-driving-crashes throughout the year in the United States. This is why it is so important to make sure you have a sober driver on your team. If it’s your turn to be the designated driver, take your job seriously and don’t drink.

Don’t Fumble Your Safety by Drunk Driving

Wherever the celebration takes you, plan to take a sober ride home and follow these simple tips for a safe and happy evening:

• Remember it is never okay to drink and drive. Even if you’ve had only one alcoholic beverage, designate a sober driver, use public transportation or call a taxi or ride service to get home safely.
• If you’re planning to be a designated driver, know that you’re the night’s MVP. No matter what, do not drink any alcohol — people are relying on you.
• If you see a suspected impaired driver on the roadway, report to your local law enforcement. To report a suspected impaired driver in Arlington County, call the Emergency Communications Center at 703-558-2222 or 9-1-1 in an emergency.
• Do you have a friend who is about to drink and drive? Take the keys away and make arrangements to get your friend home safely.

For more information on the dangers of drunk driving, visit the NHTSA website.

Your Best Defense Against Drunk Driving is a SoberRide®

Offered by the nonprofit Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP), the inaugural 2025 Super Bowl SoberRide® program is operating from 8:00 p.m. on Sunday, February 9th until 4:00 a.m. on Monday, February 10th as a way to keep local roads safe from impaired drivers during this traditionally high-risk period.