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<p>HANOVER TWP. &#8212; For more than 30 years during the holiday season in Luzerne County, overturned cars on the side of the road have drawn attention to drinking and driving.</p><p>Thanks to Wyoming Valley Alcohol and Drug Services Inc. (WVADS Inc.) and Allen Industries, those cars are intentionally placed as reminders to be Slow on the Bottle, Enjoy the Road (S.O.B.E.R.). According to the S.O.B.E.R. mission statement, the campaign is designed to increase awareness of the consequences of drinking and driving.</p><p>Hanover Area High School on the Sans Souci Parkway is one of those intentional spots and the second location in the county where the staff of WVADS Inc. and local school students kicked off the S.O.B.E.R. campaign.</p><p>&#8220;This is real,&#8221; Jason Harlen, CEO of WVADS Inc., said. &#8220;Nobody ever intends on hurting or killing someone when they drink and drive.&#8221;</p><p>Two kickoffs were held this year, Monday at Hanover Area and one Nov. 19 in Dallas.</p><p>&#8220;Big decisions turn into big mistakes,&#8221; Hanover Area Superintendent Andrew Kuhl said in his speech to the students.</p><p>Pennsylvania State Police and representatives from the offices of U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta and state Sen. John Yudichak, D-Plymouth Township, were on hand to support the cause.</p><p>State Police Sgt. Michael Carroll, from the Wyoming barracks, emphasized bad decisions affect everyone.</p><p>&#8220;One small crash affects a whole community,&#8221; Carroll said. &#8220;There is a lot of peer pressure that goes along with being a teenager.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;You are free to choose, but not free from the consequences of your choices,&#8221; said Kori Britton, Hanover Area High School&#8217;s WVADS Inc. prevention specialist, said.</p><p>In a packet handed to the dozens of students from Hanover Area and Pittston Area who attended, red ribbons were included. According to Britton, the ribbons are to be tied to an outside rear view mirror as a reminder to not mix alcohol and driving.</p><p>Britton encouraged individuals to &#8220;think before you act.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Sad statistics </strong></p><p>According to the 2014 Pennsylvania Crash Facts and Statistics report compiled by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, 13 percent of holiday crashes involved alcohol but 41 percent of deaths that occurred on weekends had an alcohol link.</p><p>The vast majority of alcohol-related deaths comes between 8 p.m. and 4 a.m., whereas non-alcohol related crashes happen between noon and 8 p.m. according to the report. Pennsylvania Code 47 P. S. &#167; 4-406 permits bars and restaurants to serve alcohol from 7 a.m. until 2 a.m. the next day, Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Sunday into Monday. Club liquor licenses can serve alcohol from 7 a.m. to 3 a.m. the following day.</p><p>The report also showed the five-year trend in the commonwealth for alcohol-related deaths is decreasing, and the total number of alcohol-related deaths by county was 459 in 2010 which had decreased to 333 in 2014.</p><p>Luzerne County is the only county which has had a steady increase over the past five years. In 2010, Luzerne County had seven deaths and from 2011 to 2013, the trend held even at 13 deaths, but a jump to 17 deaths occurred in 2014. Luzerne County had the third highest alcohol-related death rate in the Ccmmonwealth last year.</p><p>Luzerne County is one of six counties in Pennsylvania that make up 29 percent of deaths because of alcohol. The other five are Washington, Allegheny, Lancaster, Bucks and Philadelphia counties. Luzerne County is also in the top 11 counties that have 44 percent of total traffic deaths across the commonwealth, the report states.</p><p>&#8220;Impaired driving remains a serious problem in our commonwealth and our nation,&#8221; the proclamation, given to commemorate S.O.B.E.R., from the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board read.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Sgt. Michael Carroll, PSP - Wyoming, talks to a group of students about the dangers of drinking and driving during a S.O.B.E.R. campaign program Monday morning outside Hanover Area High School. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL112415Sobercampaign.jpg</photo0><caption0>Sgt. Michael Carroll, PSP - Wyoming, talks to a group of students about the dangers of drinking and driving during a S.O.B.E.R. campaign program Monday morning outside Hanover Area High School. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Melanie Mizenko</p><p>mmizenko@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p>Overturned car sites:</p><p>&#8226; Allan Industries, route 309, Wilkes-Barre</p><p>&#8226; Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, intersection of routes 415 and 309, Dallas</p><p>&#8226; Hanover Area High School, Sans Souci Parkway, Hanover Township</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Melanie Mizenko at 570-991-6116 or on Twitter @TL_MMizenko</p></shirttailMeta></div>

S.O.B.E.R. campaign kickoff begins at Hanover Area