OCEAN VIEW, Del. - As the New Year's celebrations begin, the roads grow more dangerous.
Since 2022, the town of Ocean View has seen 11 D.U.I's in the month of January combined. For the year 2024, the town saw a total of 39.
Community members CoastTV spoke with ahead of New Year's celebrations, such as Denny Barton, say the risk of driving on New Year's is just plain unsafe.
"If you're going to be drinking, the best thing to do is just stay at home," said Barton. "If you feel like you might be a little over the edge, you know, just play it safe. Call an Uber. Leave your car, give it to a friend."
Chief of Police for the Town of Ocean View, Kenneth McLaughlin, says education is equally important as the law enforcement side.
"Our goal is safety, not tickets," said Chief McLaughlin. "The education side is as important as the enforcement side. I think if you look at what the Delaware Office of Highway Safety has done over the last decade, it seems like every year the education and the outreach get better and better. I expect big things from them again this year."
McLaughlin says that with the legalization of marijuana, the fight against impaired drivers has gotten even harder. Despite the decrease in D.U.I's in January, McLaughlin says the department has plans for this year's New Year's celebration.
"Our plan is to have increased police visibility during peak hours for DUIs and on peak roadways," said McLaughlin.
McLaughlin said he credits the decrease seen in the previous January months to ride-share drivers.
"A lot of that is attributed to Uber and Lyft. You know, it's very easy to get a ride. Most of the folks down in the Ocean View area are traveling to Ocean City or Dewey Beach," said McLaughlin.
McLaughlin and Corporal 1 Washington Alava with the Ocean View Police Department say they've seen blood alcohol contents reach as high as 0.270 percent and 0.300 percent. The legal limit in the state of Delaware is 0.08 percent.
But this New Year's, they want to be able to declare the roads as safer than ever.