The Onondaga County Traffic Safety Advisory Board held its 38th annual Donald H. Barrett Lights on Caravan Event Saturday. The annual event honors victims of drunk and drugged driving. It also serves as a reminder of the dangers of driving while impaired, especially during the holiday season.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 659 people across the country lost their lives in drunk-driving-related crashes last December alone. The agency says over the past five years, an average of 300 people died in drunk driving crashes the week of Christmas and New Year’s. Local law enforcement says Thanksgiving is no different.

“The night before Thanksgiving is one of the biggest drinking nights of the year,” Onondaga County Sheriff’s Deputy Seamus Shanley said.

Shanley has been in law enforcement for about five years and this year is his first lights on caravan. Local and state law enforcement agencies, first responders and area businesses drove through Downtown Syracuse, making their way to the Baldwinsville Fire Department to remind drivers to be safe on the roads this holiday season.

“We work hand in hand with all agencies in the area to try to bring awareness of this issue that is going on,” Shanley said. “Not only in our respective county but it’s an issue that we want to make aware throughout the country that again there’s other avenues that one can explore.”

Whether it’s calling an Uber or having a designated driver, Shanley says it’s important to utilize these other services instead of driving while impaired.

“It takes the community to bring awareness to this issue and hopefully limit as much as we can,” Shanley said.

In 2014, the caravan was renamed to the Donald H. Barrett Lights on Caravan, dedicating the yearly event to one of the founders who passed away in September 2013.