Tulsa Police Patrol To Keep Drivers Safe On New Year's Eve

It’s a night for drinking toasts to the New Year, but make sure you don’t over-do it - police have several DUI checkpoints set up throughout the region.

They said, on nights like New Year’s Eve, unfortunately, people inevitably choose to break the law and drink and drive. The end result isn't always jail; it sometimes ends with a life forfeited.

Kendra Gonzales was a day away from 21 years old; Jonathan Parson - 18 years old - will never see his daughter grow up; and Susan Monholland was killed on her 21st birthday 20 years ago – all were killed by drunk drivers.

"The numbers are useless. There's no reason, senseless, for people to continue to drink and drive," said Erick Smoot with the Oklahoma Alcoholic Beverage Law Enforcement Commission or ABLE.

He said, even with the stories of death and warnings of jail, the careless - especially on nights like this - often ignore them.

"We want people to know we take this serious and we are going to hold people responsible,” Smoot said.

Smoot said, every year 10,000 Americans are killed at the hands of drunk drivers. Last year, 172 of them were in Oklahoma.

As people head out to ring in the new year, police will be out too. There will be DUI checkpoints along with officers patrolling the roads and the bars.

"Oklahoma has so many great things out there - we have Uber, Lyft, taxi cabs, a lot of those places have places to stay. There is just no reason to drive if you make the choice to drink," Smoot said.

He said, over the years, the number of DUI cases in Oklahoma has dropped, but not as quickly as in other states.

He said no excuse is ever good enough to drive drunk; and if you're caught, you're going to jail.

Smoot said if you're going to drink, think about your choices.

He said if you don't plan before you go out, you're likely to make the wrong decision later - a decision that could drastically change yours or someone else's life.