TEXAS — Pam Todaro’s 25-year-old son Dillon was driving with a blood-alcohol level that doubled the legal limit. When his truck ran off the road and hit a brick mailbox and concrete pole in Bryan, Texas, he died instantly.


What You Need To Know

  • Last year in Texas, there were 963 DUI alcohol related fatalities and 2,114 seriously injured in drunk driving accidents

  • TxDot launched its "Drive Sober. No Regrets" campaign to coincide with football season

  • The campaign features videos of people who lost a loved one in a drunk driving accident

  • TxDot officials will be touring college campuses with those grieving family members

Todaro is one of the grieving family members featured in the Texas Department of Transportation’s video series “Faces …,” and is part of the agency’s renewed effort to curtail drunk driving accidents.

With the new football season upon us, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is launching its statewide “Drive Sober. No Regrets” impaired driving campaign to encourage fans to celebrate responsibly by always finding a sober ride.

“Fall football is a time-honored tradition in our state, but one regrettable decision to drink and drive could turn game day into a jail time or a deadly crash,” said TxDOT Executive Director Marc Williams.” Whether fans are tailgating with friends or celebrating their team’s big win, we want everyone to enjoy the season responsibly.” 

Last year, in Texas, there were 963 DUI alcohol-related fatalities and 2,114 seriously injured because someone chose to get behind the wheel while impaired. That means, on average, a person in Texas died every nine hours and six minutes as a result of a traffic crash involving alcohol.

What’s more, driving while intoxicated can cost up to $17,000 in fines and fees, jail time, loss of driver’s license, additional costs and other serious consequences.

With all of this in mind, TxDOT is launching its statewide campaign, which puts real faces and stories behind the statistics by way of powerful testimonials on video in English and Spanish. (Full video stories and other drunk driving facts can be found at https://www.facesofdrunkdriving.com.) The new campaign highlights the extensive human toll that drinking and driving can have, and it features personal accounts from offenders, victims, families of those who survived and others whose lives have been shattered as a result of impaired driving.

TxDot officials are encouraging Texans to designate a sober driver, call a taxi, use a rideshare service, stay put, call a friend or family member or use mass transit to ensure you don’t drive impaired.

Throughout the fall, TxDOT’s “Drive Sober. No Regrets” campaign will conduct outreach events at college campuses across the state in conjunction with football season. These events will include a video exhibit featuring video testimonials of Texans who deal with the daily consequences of drunk driving, either as an offender or survivor.

The “Drive Sober. No Regrets” campaign is a key component of #EndTheStreakTX, a broader social media and word-of-mouth effort that encourages drivers to make safer choices while behind the wheel, like wearing a seat belt, driving the speed limit, never texting and driving and never driving under the influence of alcohol or other drugs. Nov. 7, 2000, was the last deathless day on Texas roadways. #EndTheStreakTX asks all Texans to commit to driving safely to help end the streak of daily deaths on Texas roadways.