(Radio Iowa) – There’ll be lots of parties this weekend for the big game and there will also be plenty of patrol cars on the road looking for drunk and impaired drivers. Sergeant Paul Gardner of the Iowa State Patrol says an extra enforcement effort is planned to try and get everyone home safely. “In 2022 there was a spike in deaths across the country with 244 people killed in traffic deaths and the 12-hour period during and after the Superbowl game,” Gardner says. He says a study of the similar period one weekend later showed 187 deaths. Gardner says the increase in Superbowl Sunday deaths was also linked to drunk driving.

He says 46 percent of those during the Superbowl Sunday night who were killed in traffic crashes, alcohol was a contributing factor. Gardner says they don’t want to see the weekend end on a bad note. “Our plan is to have everyone make it to the end zone– which is home safely — and your M-V-P, your most valuable player in this case is going to be a sober designated driver to get home safely,” Gardner says.

Gardner says if you are hosting a party, make sure all your guests have a way to get home if they have been drinking.