WASHINGTON D.C., DC — Thanksgiving Eve, Blackout Wednesday, 'Drinksgiving'. Those are just some of the nicknames given to the night before Thanksgiving.
"You Have a lot of out of town guests, people are prepping for Thanksgiving and you want to let loose with and hang out with your family," said Dayar Brown-Gurowitz, the manager of Code Red in Adams Morgan.
He said they were expecting a busy night on Wednesday, and so were many of the neighboring bars and restaurants.
They were one of the more than 250 businesses in D.C., that are participating in D.C.'s Alcohol Beverage and Cannabis Administration's Extended Holiday Hours Program, allowing them to stay open until 4 a.m. this weekend.
The reason, it's an incredibly popular night and weekend for drinking, but it's also one of the most dangerous nights on the road.
"Thanksgiving in general is a time to be concerned. It's a period where, well over a third of all traffic deaths in this country involve drunk drivers according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. But, if you look at the night before, it's the number of young persons that are overrepresented in these fatal car crashes, which are 100% preventable," said Kurt Erickson, the President of the nonprofit Washington Regional Alcohol Program.
It's why police across the DMV are stepping up enforcement efforts.
"Tonight is historically the busiest drinking day of the year. You may think it's the 4th of July, but statistics show it is the busiest drinking night of the year. It also has the highest rate of crashes related to alcohol and drug impaired driving and also fatalities as a result of those crashes," said Sgt. Patrick Kepp from the Montgomery County Police Department.
Wednesday night, Sgt. Kepp lead the roll call for the Montgomery County Police Alcohol Holiday Task Force.
The task force is comprised of officers from Montgomery County Police, Maryland State Police, Gaithersburg Police, Maryland-National Capital Park Police, Takoma Park Police, Rockville City Police and deputies from Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.
He told WUSA9 that the task force began their increased efforts to stop drunk drivers last week and in just one week, made 29 arrests.
"It was just shy of 170 last year and that number obviously with 29 in the first week, we are well on pace to exceed that number," said Sgt. Kepp.
Before the officers headed out on patrol, they heard from Miguel Vila, who's a representative for MADD.
"My name is Miguel Vila and on July 20, 2003, I became a murderer, because I decided to go out and get drunk and drive home," said Vila.
He told WUSA9 that the young woman he killed is named RaShonda Tangle. She had just turned 18.
"I had killed her four days after her 18th birthday," said Vila.
He told WUSA9 that he'll never forget that night.
"I was driving a Mercury Cougar. When I hit her it picked her car up, spun it around slammed her into a telephone pole, where her head went into the windshield and out to the pole," said Vila. "That night I got drunk and somebody paid the price for that."
His story a stark reminder to not drink and drive.
"It is 100% a preventable crime. You make a decision. Like our speaker tonight. You turn that vehicle into a weapon when you get behind the wheel," said Sgt. Kepp.