The night before Thanksgiving is the busiest bar night of the year, with many people celebrating early.
Oakland County Sheriff's Deputies are sending out a stern warning to anyone thinking about drinking and driving. Authorities are also alerting drivers to expect to see more manpower on the roads, in hopes of preventing accidents.
“Giving a death notification is horrible. It never leaves you,” said Sgt. Jennifer Miles with the Oakland County Sheriff's Office.
Law enforcement is out in full force keeping an eye on the roads looking for dangerous drivers.
“We’ll follow some of the fatal statistics on where we’ll patrol sometimes, which is why we are sticking in Pontiac," Miles said. "It is one of our highest areas when it comes to drug and drunk driving."
Their message to anyone thinking about drinking and driving and hitting the roads:
"If you drank anything, if you've had any prescription medication or illegal drugs, anything – get a driver no matter who it is," Miles said. "Get someone else who is sober to drive you home."
If you had a few drinks and need a lift home, Christensen law firm in Southfield will pay for your ride through their Safe Ride Home program.
“When I learned a few years ago that Thanksgiving Eve was the biggest bar night of the year, it just made sense,” said David Christensen.
They’ll reimburse your cab fare up to $35, but the rides need to be in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Washtenaw, Genesee, and surrounding counties and must be before 4 a.m. Thursday.
“Really what we want is everybody who’s out having a good time tonight to be home with their families tomorrow,” Christensen said.
Law enforcement is hoping the busiest bar night of the year is a safe and quiet one on the roads.
“It’s not always about having that fatal crash or something that ends with death," Sgt. Miles said. "If you get into a crash and say you're not hurt but that other person is hurt and they live, that recovery, that amount of change, that person's life and that family's life is going to be impacted for years and years to come."
Deputies say if you aren’t sure if you need a ride home, it's better to be safe than sorry.
