Safety key for new year

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Jack Tucker
  • 3rd Wing Safety Office
ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska --  This holiday season may very well be the most anticipated time of the year. This is the time we give thanks, remember our loved ones and spend time with our families. The anticipation alone can be overwhelming. You have so many ideas, errands, and plans on your mind leading up to the "Big Day"; it's easy to lose focus on the simplest of decisions ... safety. 

The 3rd Wing Safety Office would like to remind everyone that personal risk management and good decision making are the keys to having a safe and happy holiday season. The last thing we want is to start off the New Year with the loss of a wingman, family member, or friend. Last year the Air Force lost 50 Airmen due to mishaps. Of those 50, 32 mishaps involved a privately owned vehicle and of those 32, six involved the use of alcohol and two involved drug abuse. 

A mishap usually is the result of a sequence of events that come together at unanticipated time. Amazingly, 90 percent of all Air Force mishaps resulting in a fatality could have been prevented. This is where being a good wingman, exercising personal risk management, and utilizing situational awareness comes into play. 

Inattentiveness, driving excessive speeds for conditions, not wearing seatbelts, and driving while intoxicated are all contributing factors in most motor-vehicle mishaps that result in fatal or serious injuries. Driving while intoxicated has always been a major concern of the Air Force, and every year we continue to have Airmen make the same poor decision to drink and get behind the wheel. 

The vehicle at the Boniface Gate is a stark reminder to plan ahead and do the right thing. It is times like these when taking that extra second to make the right decision can save a life. We must have the discipline, responsibility and awareness to call a friend or a cab.
Airmen Against Drunk Driving is always another way to get home if you have had too much to drink, however, this should not be your first and only option. You need to have a back-up plan for your back-up plan, and then, have another contingency plan. Never get yourself in a situation where you have limited yourself to only one option. Remember that a designated driver should not be who has had the least to drink but the one who has not been drinking. 

AADD is available from midnight-4 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays. For more information, call 552-4663.