St. Patrick’s Day 2026 celebrations will take place across the country on and around Tuesday, March 17. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Airport Corridor Transportation Association (ACTA) are urging drivers this St. Patrick’s Day to remember that drinking and driving is deadly and never an option.
Each year, dozens of people are killed when they choose to drive drunk during the St. Patrick’s Day holiday. According to NHTSA, 38% of the traffic fatalities that occurred during the St. Patrick’s Day holidays between 2019-2023 involved drunk drivers. In 2023 alone, there were 63 fatalities in drunk-driving crashes during the St. Patrick’s Day holiday, of which 44 involved drivers with a blood alcohol concentration of .15 or higher.
Celebrate the holiday safely by making a plan before the festivities begin:
- Always drive 100% sober. Even one alcoholic beverage could be one too many.
- Plan ahead: Before you have even one drink, designate a sober driver to get you home safely. If you wait until you’ve been drinking to make this decision, you might not make the best one.
- You have options to get home safely: Designate a sober driver or call a taxi or rideshare. Getting home safely is always worth it.
- If it’s your turn to be the designated driver, take your job seriously and don’t drink.
- If you see a drunk driver on the road, contact local law enforcement.
- If you have a friend who is about to drink and drive, take the keys away and let a sober driver get your friend home safely.
For more information on impaired driving, visit www.nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/drunk-driving.