Officials warn against drunk driving, jaywalking during St. Patty’s Day

Basketball, booze and a whole lot of green.

All three will be prominent Thursday with both Saint Patrick’s Day and the March Madness kick off. Bringing business, fun and potential hazards to area beach towns.

“they are typically drinking events, traditionally, so we are expecting a lot of the bars to be busy which is a great thing but we want to make sure that everyone knows to drive sober,” Said Lindsay Richard, OCPD public information officer.

Richard tells 47 ABC that thousands are expected for the mid-March holiday. Increasing the likelihood that visitors get behind the wheel after a few drinks. Just this past weekend for the Saint Patrick’s Day Parade, Richard says 3 DUI arrests were made. While that’s down from years past it’s still three too many. Especially since there are plenty of options to avoid driving drunk.
“we have more and more taxis every year, we have Uber and Lyft, our buses, they run every 30 minutes,”

The Delaware Office of Highway Safety blames 68 deaths on impaired driving last year. So far this year that number is already up to five.

“this is a shared responsibility in that an impaired pedestrian is not always as aware of their surroundings as they should be.” Said Lisa Flowers with the Delaware Office of Highway Safety. “it’s sometimes the responsibility to ask their friends and say, help me out and walk with me.”

The Delaware office of highway safety also recommends walking with either a flashlight or reflective clothing at night to avoid being hit. Since 2013, 95 pedestrians have died in the first state.