Hosts and Partiers: Drinkers Should Not Have Keys

Before you serve those barbecue chicken wings and fill the ice chest in time for today's big game, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department urges everyone to do one last thing before the guests arrive for Super Bowl Sunday.

"You aren't prepared for the Super Bowl until you have a designated driver," the sheriff's department says.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department urges party hosts, partygoers and sports bar game watchers to not over-serve, and to keep drinkers off the road.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which patrols communities around Long Beach, is urging alcohol servers and drinkers to think of those they could be endangering.

In 2009, drunk driving crashes killed 65 people on the day of the Super Bowl and several hours into the following morning--a traffic death rate second only to New Year’s Day, according to Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

The Sheriff’s Department is offering the following tips to make sure everyone on the road gets home safe and sound.

For partygoers: 

• Never serve alcohol to someone who is not of legal drinking age and don’t ask a minor to serve you alcohol.
• Pick a designated time to stop serving alcohol before the party ends, such as the third quarter of the game, and start serving coffee and dessert.
• Provide food throughout the day.
• Serve a variety of non-alcoholic beverages
• Serve measured drinks and one at a time
• Give designated drivers special recognition at the party, such as prime seating in front of the big screen, first-in-line status at the buffet table and accessible parking so they can handle their mission with ease.
• Be prepared to stop serving a guest if he or she has had too much to drink.
• If an alternative way home is not available, be ready to let guests spend the night.

At the bar or restaurant:

• Give designated drivers a pat on the back by volunteering to do the duty the next time out, paying for parking or gas, or picking up the tab for food and drinks.
• Put the phone numbers for local cab companies in your cell phone.