Minnesota is expected to see significant snow fall continuing into Wednesday, one of the heaviest drinking days of the year. Snow and ice make driving conditions challenging enough, and drivers who consume even one drink can experience delayed reaction times. That’s why drivers should line up a sober ride any time they decide to drink alcohol.

To help keep families together this holiday season, more than 300 law enforcement agencies across Minnesota are teaming up to get impaired drivers off the road. Officers, deputies and troopers will be participating in an extra DWI enforcement campaign starting today and running on weekends through Dec. 28.

“These officers, along with their colleagues across the state, will be focused on making your holiday travel as safe as possible,” said Mike Hanson, director of the Office of Traffic Safety. “That means if you decide to drink and get behind the wheel, you have already made the choice to go to jail and spend the holidays behind bars with strangers.”

Over the last five years, more than 125,000 people were arrested for DWI in Minnesota. Almost 13,000 of those DWI arrests happened between the Thanksgiving and New Year’s holidays. That’s 10 percent of all DWIs in the last five years. Drunk driving has contributed to 28 deaths on Minnesota roads from the day before Thanksgiving through Dec. 30 in the last five years (2012-2017)

If you feel different, you drive different, whether it’s from alcohol, cold medicine, a prescription or any other drug. Impairment is impairment, and in the last 10 years, Minnesota has seen a significant increase in DWIs involving a controlled substance while alcohol offenses have declined over this same period.

According to the DPS-OTS, 7,949 controlled substance DWI arrests were made from 2013-2017, a 78 percent increase from 2008-2012. On the contrary, 117,752 alcohol DWI arrests were made from 2013-2017, a 23 percent decrease from 2008-2012.

To ensure safety on the roads, the DPS-OTS suggests the following:

• Plan for a safe ride — designate a sober driver, use a safe, alternative transportation option, or stay at the location of the celebration.

• Speak up – offer to be a designated driver or be available to pick up a loved one anytime, anywhere. If you see an impaired person about to get behind the wheel, get them a safe ride home.

• Buckle up — the best defense against a drunk driver.

• Report drunk driving — call 911 when witnessing impaired driving behavior. Be prepared to provide location, license plate number and observed dangerous behavior.