STURBRIDGE, Mass. (WWLP) – The Sturbridge Police Department is encouraging everyone to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day weekend responsibly.

If you are out celebrating, don’t drink and drive, and have a designated driver. Officers will be on patrol to take impaired drivers off the road for everyone’s safety.

The following facts from SCRAM Systems, an alcohol monitoring product, show historic data of drinking on St. Patrick’s Day.

On St. Patrick’s Day, more than 50 percent of adults plan to celebrate. On average 4.2 drinks are consumed. Between 2016 and 2020, there were 287 people who died in drunk-driving crashes during the period of March 16th and March 18th.

The most popular drinking holiday of the year is New Year’s followed by the Fourth of July, and then St. Patrick’s Day, according to alcohol.org.