SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) - As 2025 comes to a close, officials have a simple message for anyone who plans to take part in year-end holiday celebrations: designate a sober driver now.

“Thinking twice before getting behind the wheel could save not just your life but the life of other people,” explained Mark Schieldrop, spokesperson for AAA Northeast.

Western Mass News spoke with Schieldrop on Tuesday about the dangers of drinking and driving.

“So many people will be out celebrating New Year’s and driving, and that’s a particular period of time where we do see a lot of crashes,” Schieldrop said.

Which is why if you’re out celebrating the New Year travel experts are urging you to have or be a designated sober driver.

According to national data, last year from Christmas Eve until New Year’s Day there were over 2,700 crashes in Massachusetts. Alcohol played a factor in 132 of those crashes.

Schieldrop told us it typically doesn’t take much alcohol to start impairing judgment.

“For many folks, even one drink is enough to start affecting your judgment and that judgment call might be thinking ‘I haven’t had a lot to drink I’m OK to drive’ ...Not to mention police tend to step up enforcement on holidays like New Year’s so you have a better chance of getting caught for driving impaired,” noted Schieldrop.

His safety advice for those hosting New Year’s parties?

“Consider encouraging your guests to stay if they’ve been drinking, and if somebody seems really impaired, it’s really your responsibility to make sure they don’t go out and drive,” Shieldrop explained.

Officials recommend offering to drive an impaired friend home or helping them call a ride share to make sure they stay off the road.

Lastly, even if you don’t plan on drinking for New Year’s Eve, Shieldrop says you should pay attention to how others are driving and call police if you think someone else may be impaired.

“Be on the lookout for people who might have been out drinking overnight. Many folks if you’re up late drinking and you go to bed and you drive the next day you still (could) be above the legal limit even though you’ve slept,” the AAA expert noted.

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