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Authorities Urge Caution as Wednesday Becomes ‘Drinksgiving’

Remember, your family will be thankful that you made it home safe tonight, so please celebrate responsibly. 

Tonight is a special night for the bar and restaurant industry, as a perfect storm of chaos comes home to roost.

The night before Thanksgiving has been a traditionally sudsy night, with friends and families coming together in hometowns old and new to celebrate the company of one another and give thanks.

Seeing as the entire familial unit will be cooped up pleasantly together on Thursday, Wednesday night has become the official night of letting loose, free of the bloat of the post-turkey slog and without any of the pots and pans to wash, either.

So, on Wednesday, the bar industry gets their second big injection of revenue of the Holiday season, with Halloween being number 1, and December 23rd and 31st marking the end of the season of gluttony.

Knowing this, authorities the nation over are urging caution to those who brave the darkened streets this evening.

When it comes to drinking and driving, the night before Thanksgiving has become even more deadly than New Year’s Eve.

So, as the heaviest drinking season of the year begins, federal safety officials and law enforcement across the country have launched a social media blitz to prevent more alcohol-related deaths.

The evening has become known as Blackout Wednesday, or Drinksgiving, a night of partying that kicks off the alcohol-infused stretch between Thanksgiving and New Year’s.

How bad have things gotten?

From 2013 to 2017, more than 800 people in the United States died in DUI crashes over the Thanksgiving holiday — from Wednesday night to early Monday morning, the agency says.

Thanksgiving eve has turned into a big drinking night as bars and restaurants across the country offer Blackout Wednesday drinks and special events. A few spots around Kansas City are partaking, but the night has become problematic for police and safety officials everywhere.

Law enforcement officials across the country are gearing up. Police in Kansas City and Overland Park will be saturating parts of their cities known for DUIs with extra patrols on Wednesday.

Remember, your family will be thankful that you made it home safe tonight, so please celebrate responsibly.

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