Blackout Wednesday is not as widely known as Black Friday. However, law enforcement is aware of the term and urges drivers to understand it to help keep themselves and their families safe on the highways the night before Thanksgiving Day.

“Unfortunately, starting on Blackout Wednesday all throughout the weekend for Thanksgiving, we see a huge spike on crashes and most of them are drunk-related or impaired-related crashes,” said Texas Department of Public Safety Sergeant Dila Hidalgo.

Hidalgo said there is a tendency for several people to overindulge in alcohol at family and friend get-togethers.

According to DPS statistics, there were just over 1,700 crashes across Texas on Blackout Wednesday last year. Twenty of those crashes involved driving while intoxicated, and two were fatal.

“Pe

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