Drunk driving continues to be a problem in Central Texas especially during football season
TX-DOT said during the 2014 football season there were more than 10,000 alcohol related crashes in the Lone Star State. Last football season 492 people died as a result of those crashes.
That's a 7 percent increase over the previous year. This season TX-DOT is directing their campaign towards football fans which they hope will save lives.
Nothing goes together quite like football and beer, but the Texas Department of Transportation is hoping drinkers consider their end game before the booze runs dry.
“The whole goal is that we're trying to get people to think about making a plan to get home safely before they go out and have a good time. So designate a driver, plan to call a cab, have a friend, kind of thinking ahead because once you get having a good time you're not making as wise of choices at that point,” said Doug Stratton of GDC Marketing and Ideation.
The "Plan While You Can" campaign uses an interactive game to educate drivers about the effects of alcohol on reaction speed.
“Their character on screen starts to be affected by drinking alcohol so, throughout the one-minute-long game, after about 15 seconds of playing dodgeball all a sudden it says, ‘You just had one drink,’ so when the person’s dodging their avatar slows down, their reaction time slows down, and it's harder to dodge,” said Stratton.
People we talked to said the experience drove home the point that drinking and driving is not a game.
“If you drink, yeah, you’re in some trouble. If you drink reflexes are very slow. Don’t drink and drive,” Braden Johnson who played the interactive game Saturday.
By teaming up with Wing Stop and targeting men between 18 and 34 years old TX-DOT hopes to save football fans from the consequences of driving impaired.
“The crashes and the physical injury and even death, but then the other consequences would be monetarily. They could incur up to $17,000 in fines with a DWI, plus possible jail time, plus you could lose your license, so all those kind of things are what we're trying to get across as far as what are the harsh consequences of getting a DWI,” Stratton said.
The campaign, which has already traveled to 11 cities, started in early December.
TX-DOT hopes by next football season when drinkers put down their glasses they won't pick up the keys.
For more ideas about safe ways to get home after a night of drinking check out soberrides.org