Traditionally, the holiday season is one of the most deadly times of the year for accidents caused by alcohol-impaired driving and according to Governor Lolo Matalasi Moliga, “community-based programs involving consumer education, effective laws, and police enforcement have proven to be successful in reducing impaired driving.”

Earlier this week, owners of taverns, bars, nightclubs, and restaurants that sell alcohol attended a special informative session conducted by representatives from the Dept. of Human and Social Services (DHSS) and a police officer from the Dept. of Public Safety, to reiterate and emphasize to business owners local laws that pertain to the legal age to purchase and consume alcohol, and ways they can help prevent people from driving drunk.

Taxi stand owners were also in attendance, to hear a proposal requesting that they lower the cab fares when transporting partygoers during the holiday season.

Another request that was made had to do with business owners providing one or two complimentary non-alcoholic drinks for designated drivers while they wait.

Samoa News understands that DHSS is in the midst of soliciting people interested in being designated drivers during the holiday season and sign-ups are ongoing.

3D Prevention Month coincides with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) national campaign centered on impaired driving, with local police officers set to conduct the yearly holiday enforcement for the territory’s roadways starting next week.

Motor vehicle crashes kill over 40,000 people and injure three million people every year, at a cost to society of some $150 billion annually. Alcohol-related crashes account for approximately 40% of those deaths and injuries.

Last year in American Samoa, one life was lost and a total of 133 drivers were arrested for drunk driving. The goal of the DPS Office of Highway Safety is to bring the numbers down, through enforcement crackdowns, paid media campaigns, and outreach programs throughout the year.

The 3D Prevention Month campaign is a collaborative effort between the Dept. of Human and Social Services, the Dept. of Public Safety, and the Dept. of Youth and Women’s Affairs (DYWA).

In an effort to up the standards of local enforcement, DPS traffic cops wrapped up yesterday, a week long training to certify and re-certify police officers to administer the Standard Field Sobriety Test (SFST) as well as a training program on Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (A-RIDE) - a first ever for American Samoa.

The Governor has proclaimed December as National Drunk and Drugged Driving (3D) Prevention Month and he is urging “all citizens, government agencies, business leaders, hospital, schools, and public and private institutions in American Samoa to promote awareness of the impaired driving problem, to support programs and policies to reduce the incidence of impaired driving, to promote safer and healthier behaviors regarding the use of alcohol and other drugs, and to provide opportunities for all to participate in the National Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month and ‘Over the Limit, Under Arrest’ campaigns this holiday season and throughout the year.”