Celebrate smart for St. Patrick's Day.
That's the message from Chaouki Hamka, the community leader for Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Windsor & Essex County.
Hamka is reminding those celebrating the Irish holiday to plan your night out, and ensure you have a ride to and from your destination.
St. Patrick's Day is packed with good luck charms, and is known to have widespread festivities, with pubs being very busy.
Hamka says celebrate responsibly.
"Plan ahead, look out for each other, and make sure everyone gets home safely. St. Patrick's Day is a great time to celebrate with family and friends, but the most important thing is making sure everyone gets home safely."
He says it's important to plan ahead.
"If you're heading out to enjoy the festivities, and planning to drink or use cannabis, make a plan before you go, arrange a designated driver, take a taxi, rideshare, or public transit. Impaired driving is never worth the risk, so we always talk about planning ahead. Planning ahead is one of the most important things you can do prior to putting any substance into your body."
He says the region usually sees many impaired driving charges laid during festive RIDE campaigns.
"Those are not really surprising given what the OPP does in our region. They are out there day and night tackling impaired driving, they're taking impaired drivers off our roads... it's not that necessarily more people are driving impaired, it's just people are getting caught because the police are out there doing what they do."
Hamka says those who are taking part in festivities can utilize taxi's, ride share programs, public transit and sober friends and family for a safe ride home.
MADD is a non-profit organization dedicated to stopping impaired driving and supporting victims of impaired driving.