St. Patrick's Day

Key Dates:

• March 11-17: St. Patrick's Day Campaign Promotion Dates 
• March 17: St. Patrick's Day 

Relevant, timely and seasonal messaging can help boost traffic safety communication efforts. 

We offer themed material for St. Patrick’s Day that encourages people to not get behind the wheel after drinking and to plan for a safe, sober ride home.  

• St. Patrick’s Day is one of the deadliest days on our nation’s roads. 
• 272 lives were lost in drunk-driving crashes during the St. Patrick’s Day holiday period (6:00 p.m. March 16 to 5:59 a.m. March 18) between 2017 and 2021. 
• Over the 2021 St. Patrick’s Day holiday period, 47 people were killed in drunk-driving crashes. 
• Year after year, the rate of impairment among drivers involved in fatal crashes is higher at night on St. Patrick’s Day. 
  • In 2021, 41 of the 47 traffic fatalities involving an impaired driver during the holiday period occurred in the nighttime hours (6:00 p.m. to 5:59 a.m.). Still, 31 daytime fatalities in drunk-driving crashes occurred between 2017 and 2021 over the St. Patrick’s Day holiday period. 

This social media playbook contains sample social media content. Download this guide for instructions on posting the below playbook graphics to Facebook, X and Instagram. The content is designed for easy posting and seamless integration into your current social media strategy.

Additional sample social media posts are also available for download. Images often help boost the engagement on social posts. Our image library, linked below in the Resource section, has a variety of images that you can associate with these sample social media posts.

All social media platforms accept 1200x1200 graphics. If you need additional sizes send a request to Feedback-TSM@dot.gov. 

We've prepared talking points related to this topic. After downloading, we encourage you to add local stats and facts to the document. 

We've produced sample news releases that can be used for media outreach.

• NHTSA Image Library: Alcohol-related images
• Resources: Drunk Driving 
• Resources: Buzzed Driving Is Drunk Driving
• Sign up to get campaign updates via email from Traffic Safety Marketing