Zero In Wisconsin App Helps Those Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day to Drive Sober

News Release - Everyone wearing green is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day, according to a time-honored tradition. But the luck of the Irish won’t protect you from being arrested if you drive while impaired while celebrating the festive holiday.

That’s why your St. Patrick’s Day plans should include downloading the free Zero In Wisconsin Drive Sober mobile app, which is available at zeroinwisconsin.gov.

Since the app’s launch for St. Patrick’s Day 2013 by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT), nearly 73,000 people have downloaded it. The Drive Sober app includes:

• A blood alcohol estimator
• A designated driver selector
• A Find a Ride feature that uses your phone’s GPS to provide contacts for nearby taxi, mass transit and other services that provide a safe ride home
• Video clips of Wisconsin’s top skateboarders, BMX bikers, snowboarders, snowmobilers and roller derby women as seen in the Zero In Wisconsin TV messages
• Games that may help assess your vision and reaction times.

"Last year on St. Patrick’s Day, three people died in Wisconsin traffic crashes. And this year with the holiday falling on a Friday, even more people may be celebrating. To help attain the goal of zero traffic deaths this weekend, you need to designate before you celebrate and never get behind the wheel while impaired,” says David Pabst, director of the WisDOT Bureau of Transportation Safety. "By downloading the Drive Sober app, you can help prevent drunken driving crashes that devastate individuals, families and entire communities."

WisDOT also offers the following advice for a fun and safe St. Patrick’s Day:

• Before you start partying, choose a sober designated driver.
• If you’re feeling buzzed, you probably are over the 0.08 (alcohol concentration) limit and should not drive. Take mass transit, a taxicab or ask a sober friend to drive you home.
• Some taverns and restaurants may provide patrons with safe transportation to their homes, such as the Tavern League of Wisconsin’s SafeRide program (http://www.tlw.org/SafeRide-Members)
• If you see a drunken driver, call 911.