This Monday, September 12th, will mark the 115th anniversary of the first drunk driving arrest in history, according to The History Channel’s website. In 1897, a London taxi driver named George Smith was arrested for drunk driving after crashing his car into a building.
Fortunately, nobody was killed or seriously hurt in this accident.
But, unfortunately, drunk driving still remains all too common over a century after this notorious “first” incident. According to the article, in 2005, for example, nearly 17,000 people died in alcohol related accidents and 1.4 million people were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Here’s to hoping we can see a day when those numbers both drop to zero.
Organizations such as MADD continue to promote driving sober and many strides have been made by government and police departments to cut back on these devastating numbers. APCON is thankful for this progress and we appreciate the efforts of those who are working hard to end drunk driving.
That said, please drive sober and help to make our roads a safer place for driving.
Thank you for reading, have a great weekend, and safe travels.