Okla. ABLE Commission, Local Law Enforcement Hold Event To Warn Against DUI

The Oklahoma ABLE Commission and members of local law enforcement are coming together to warn the community against drinking and driving during the holidays. The ABLE Commission said they know it is something that should be common sense, but the drunk driving death toll rates show otherwise.

On Thursday morning the Oklahoma ABLE Commission is holding an event at the Gathering Place to get in touch with the community about the dangers of drinking and driving. This year the event is being held at the Gathering Place instead of Woodland Hills Mall as a way to give people more room to social distance and to avoid an indoor confined space.

Every year they put up a Christmas tree at Woodland Hills with presents under it as a representation of how many people have been killed in a drunk driving accident in Tulsa county over the past four years. This year there will be 83 presents under that tree and the Commission’s Capt. Erik Smoot says today they want to try to convince people that if they have been drinking and get behind the wheel, it could cost someone’s life.

“We will be out there looking, we are going to make sure people aren’t out drinking and driving, this is not a time where we want people in trouble, we just want them to do the right thing,” Smoot says. “We want to save lives because nobody wants to have that empty place at the table or that place where nobody is sitting because somebody made the choice to drink and drive especially in the holiday season.”

That event begins at 10 a.m. Thursday morning and is open for anyone to attend on the lawn across from the boathouse at the Gathering Place.