ANCHORAGE, Alaska-In an effort to highlight the need to stay safe on the roads this holiday season, U.S. Sen. Mark Begich and National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator (NHTSA) David Strickland will join journalism students from Palmer’s Colony High School Saturday in a campaign to combat drunk and distracted driving.

Sen. Begich and Administrator Strickland will join the “Pledge to Be Safe” effort with students and members of the Forget Me Not Mission to take pledges from Alaskans who join them in their message of driving safe and sober.

“We always need to focus on the message of safe driving, but the holidays are a particularly good time to shine the light even brighter on this effort,” Begich said. “We look forward to joining the students from Colony High and the members of the Forget Me Not Mission in making more Alaskans aware of the dangers of drunk and distracted driving and the responsibility we all have to keep Alaska’s roadways safe.”

Sen. Begich and Administrator Strickland will be at the Veterans & Pioneers Home, 250 East Fireweed Avenue, in downtown Palmer from 2 to 3 pm today for the Pledge to Be Safe event.

As part of the anti-drunk driving campaign, Begich and Strickland have recorded two public service announcements to be played on Alaska radio stations.

For more than four decades, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has served as the key federal agency charged with improving safety on our nation’s roadways. As part of the U.S. Department of Transportation, NHTSA is working to reduce traffic-related deaths and injuries by promoting the use of safety belts and child safety seats; helping states and local communities address the threat of drunk drivers; regulating safety standards and investigating safety defects in motor vehicles; establishing and enforcing fuel economy standards; conducting research on driver behavior and traffic safety; and providing consumer information on issues ranging from child passenger safety to impaired driving.

Source: Office of Senator Mark Begich