Iowans Can Plan Ahead for Safe Transportation on New Year’s Eve

Jared Allen December 31, 2025Last Updated: December 31, 2025

1 minute read

New Year’s Eve is one of the most dangerous nights of the year to be on the road because of impaired driving, and Iowans are being reminded to plan ahead and make safe choices.

Katie Jensen, a wellness education specialist at Gundersen Health System, says anyone planning to ring in 2026 should decide in advance how they’ll get home safely.

“If you’ve been drinking at all, having a plan ahead of time, even before you would go out, making that plan and figuring out, ‘Okay, how am I going to get home? Am I going to maybe only have one or two beverages, because I know I’m going to be here for a while,’” Jensen says. “Maybe only have one or two when you first get there, and then switch to something non-alcoholic the rest of the evening.”

Jensen says there are several safe options, including choosing a designated driver or using a taxi or ride-sharing service. If you plan to drive, she says it’s important to avoid anything that could impair your ability behind the wheel.

“Anything that’s going to impair your focus, your concentration, is going to be something that you want to completely eliminate out of your system — or out of your car — before even getting on the road,” Jensen says. “So that could be drugs, it could be alcohol, it could even be texting and driving. That is another form of impaired driving, really, because you are taking your attention off of the road and onto something else.”

A recent study found more than ten-thousand people are killed each year in the U.S. by alcohol-impaired drivers.

“Really, making that one choice could affect not only your own family, but other people’s families as well,” Jensen says. “Especially if you’re going to get behind the wheel and you’ve been drinking, or you’ve been doing other substances that would impact your concentration and focus.”

December is National Impaired Driving Prevention Month. Gundersen Health System operates clinics in Fayette, Decorah, Waukon, Lansing, Postville and Calmar, and a hospital in West Union.