With holiday parties and the hustle and bustle of shopping in full swing, four state agencies are once again partnering in the Highway Safety Challenge encouraging people to take precautions to avoid being Virginia’s next traffic fatality.

Reaching out to ABC store customers at point of sale, nearly one million bags bearing the safety challenge message are being distributed statewide during the holiday season.

The Virginia Department of Transportation, Virginia State Police and the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles are partnering with the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control on the initiative. The group is working collectively with a host of other concerned and committed highway safety organizations to address some of the most significant risk factors for highway fatalities, which tend to increase during the holidays.

The Highway Safety Challenge bag initiative launched Tuesday at ABC stores in the Hampton Roads region, and will expand statewide to 332 stores within a week.

Printed with the message: “Don’t be Virginia’s next traffic fatality,” the bags feature safety tips such as, “Drive drug and alcohol free; Buckle up and Obey speed limits”. Additionally, signs are being placed in each ABC store featuring the traffic safety messages, a partner list and the Highway Safety Challenge Website.

To reinforce the safety messages especially related to the deadly dangers of impaired driving, the Virginia State Police, as a Checkpoint Strikeforce partner, will be conducting sobriety checkpoints and roving enforcement patrols statewide during the coming holidays.

In addition, state police will have 75 percent of its workforce on the highways this weekend, December 19 through 21, as part of the national Operation LifeSaver enforcement campaign, which is geared towards reducing traffic crashes and violations during the holiday season.

According to DMV's Highway Safety Office, 11,215 alcohol-related crashes have occurred on Virginia's roadways for calendar year 2007. Of those alcohol-related crashes, 7,130 people were injured and 378 died. Twenty-Two of the fatalities occurred in Richmond City, 14 in Chesterfield County and 13 in Henrico County.