By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
Some people may celebrate the new year a little harder than others and should get home safely this holiday weekend.
Seargent Shane Hux with Troop H of the Missouri Highway Patrol in St. Joseph says if you are at a party with alcohol this new year's, practice precaution getting home.
"By all means reach out and make sure you have a sober designated driver, there's a lot of services provided for you even around the St. Joe area there's Ubers, Lyfts, things like that taxi service," Hux tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post. "So, just make sure you always have a plan in place before you do start your celebration."
Hux says if you find yourself driving behind someone who seems impaired to dial star 55 on your phone to call your local highway patrol office.
"That doesn't necessarily mean that person is impaired, they could be sleepy, there's a lot of factors that go into play there," Hux says. "But if they see something like that draws their attention, and they think they're a hazard to the roadway safety, yeah call *55 on your cell phone, get to the nearest troop headquarters, and we'll get a trooper out there to make sure everything's ok."
Hux says if your plans do involve alcohol to make sure to have a plan ahead of your celebrations and find a designated driver or use one of the many ride sharing services available.
Hux says the top priority of the patrol is traffic safety and encourages everyone to follow the traffic laws.
"So, as you're traveling to and from your destination or location you're going to, always obey the traffic laws, make sure the driver and all passengers are properly restrained in that vehicle," Hux says. "And get to your destination safely and bring in the new year, that's the ultimate goal."