Congratulations to Justify – only the 13th horse in history to win the triple crown. And congratulations to all the race fans who pledged to celebrate responsibly at the race on June 9, 2018. Belmont Park was the site of the continuation of a partnership between NYRA, Woodford Reserve and TEAM Coalition that started in 2016 at Saratoga. The goal of the partnership is to promote responsible drinking and prevent drunk driving. 228 fans made the pledge to drink responsibly. They autographed a responsibility wall and received a free souvenir photo. The 100 photos have been shared 366 times via social media, an average of 3.7 views per photo.
US DOT / NHTSA 2016 NATIONAL DATA:
• In 2016, 10,497 people were killed as a result of alcohol-related (BAC > 0.08) car crashes, an increase of 1.7% from the 10,265 fatalities in 2014.
• Many, if not most of those lives would have been saved if people did not drive when they were impaired by alcohol or if they used sober, designated drivers or if they simply wore their seat belts.
• Statistics and research clearly show that 21-34 year old males are the demographic most likely to be involved in an automobile crash, drive when impaired by alcohol, and fail to buckle up.