SIDNEY — With Christmas and New Year’s celebrations approaching and December being National Impaired Driving Prevention Month, Sheriff Jim Frye and the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office wants to remind community members to stay safe and drive sober this holiday season.

“It’s not worth it. Don’t drink and drive,” said Frye.

Just this year, 2022, in Ohio there have been 10,618 OVI related crashes and 1,395 of those resulted in fatalities or serious injuries to those involved. One route of major concern to the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office as it runs through Shelby County is Interstate 75. In 2022 there have been 208 OVI-related crashes on I-75.

According to Frye, in Shelby County alone there have been 17 OVI arrests and four OVI-related deaths so far in 2022.

“It is important to note that during the holidays we want everyone to enjoy the holidays safely. Even if you aren’t impaired, always be aware of others (drivers),” said Frye.

Frye also noted that the biggest time period for OVIs and OVI-related crashes is between 1o p.m. and 3 a.m.

Ways to stay safe and ensure you and your loved ones are not driving impaired this holiday season include utilizing new transportation services like Uber and Lyft or even older methods like taxis. Frye wants to also remind people that there are many individuals who do not drink and would be glad to help other get to their festivities and home safely; it is always worth it to reach out and find a sober driver as opposed to driving impaired.

Another issue Frye noted is that many individuals during the holiday season will go out not planning on drinking but end up having a couple of drinks and deciding they are still sober enough to drive home.

“You have to use some common sense. If you’re going out and think you might drink, set up an alternative way home to be safe,” stated Frye. “I just want everybody to have a very, merry, merry Christmas and I want everybody to be safe.”