Lights On For Life day

Friday is the annual "Lights On For Life" day. You're asked to drive with your headlights on all day, as a way to remember those who've been killed by drunk drivers and to remind others to drive

Thursday, December 19th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Friday is the annual "Lights On For Life" day. You're asked to drive with your headlights on all day, as a way to remember those who've been killed by drunk drivers and to remind others to drive safely.

News on Six crime reporter Lori Fullbright explains what area police plan to do to keep the roads safe during the holidays. This year's slogan is you drink, you drive, you lose. The highway safety office provided money to pay officers overtime for extra patrols during Christmas and New Years. Nearly 2,000 people were victims of drunk driving crashes in Tulsa County last year. 18 of those people died.

Police say people don't think ahead of time, about how they're going to get home from parties. And, afterward, they don't use the best judgment. Tulsa Police officer Craig Murray, "A lot of times, they've only had a few and they've been with friends and think they know what's going on and they're okay, but, once they're in the car, it can hit them the wrong way."

Tulsa Police arrest an average of 235 people every month for driving drunk. 20 of those are generally people under 21 years old.

There are easy ways to avoid the danger and cost of driving drunk, pick a designated driver before you go out, stay in a hotel rather than drive or call a cab or Storey wrecker, they'll take you home for free, Storey will even tow your car free.

In addition to drunk drivers, police will be looking for speeders, red light runners and people who don't wear their seatbelts.