NEBRASKA CITY- The Otoe County Sheriff’s Office is participating in the drive sober or get pulled over enforcement Dec. 12 to Jan. 1.

The Nebraska Office of Highway Safety reports 4,931 traffic deaths involving an alcohol-impaired driver in Decembers from 2019 to 2023. There were 1,038 alcohol-impaired driving fatalities. Of those 697 had a driver nearly twice the legal limit.

Drunk male drivers were involved in 22 percent of the crashes. A quarter of the impaired drivers were were under age 34.

Nighttime driving in December was more dangerous than daytime driving with 31 percent of fatal crashes after 6 p.m.

Almost half of drivers involved in fatal crashes between the hours of midnight and 2:59 a.m. were drunk.

Driving over the Thanksgiving holiday is also dangerous.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration reports nine fatal truck accidents in 2023 involving freight trucks. Nebraska is ranked 46th in the nation with large truck crashes per 100,000 residents.