Holiday road advice: ‘Don’t drink and drive’

Eunice Police Chief Randy Fontenot said that most wrecks in Eunice occur on U.S. 190 such as this one in June. (Photo by Harlan Kirgan)

The first holiday driving tip from Eunice police is “Don’t drink and drive.”
That came as something chorus when Eunice Police Chief Randy Fontenot was about holiday driving tips.
Fontenot added a couple of other tips.
“A lot of it is distractions,” he said. “Cell phones and texting I think are a big part of the distraction and paying attention.”
Drivers divert their attention from the road to the cell phone and that leads to crashes, he said.
Seat belt usage isn’t that big of an issue today, he said. “I think most people wear their seat belts.”
Fontenot said many people have recognized there is an additional threat from not wearing a seat belts. When air bags deploy they may injure occupants who are not restrained, he said.
“We don’t have a taxi to call in Eunice,” he said in advising people to have a designated driver if drinking alcohol is part of the activities.
Fontenot said that while he didn’t have statistics about crashes in Eunice, he suspects most occur on U.S. 190.
Issues develop with the middle turning lane, he said. And, especially with left turns into the turning lane, he added.