New Year’s Eve tips: Avoid celebratory gunfire and watch your drinking

Before you settle in to ring in the new year tonight, here’s a friendly reminder: Do not fire your gun in the air to celebrate and watch your drinking.

That’s according to the Los Angeles Police Department, which has a New Year’s Eve gunfire reduction program. The department says a bullet fired skyward can climb two miles and remain in flight for more than a minute. As it falls, the bullet reaches a velocity of 300 to 700 feet per second. A bullet only needs to travel 200 feet per second to penetrate the human skull.

Also, don’t overdo your consumption of alcohol tonight. The reason? Well, there are many:

▪ There has been about a 50 percent increase in ER visits related to excessive drinking since the start of this century.

▪ In 2014, alcohol-impaired driving led to nearly 10,000 deaths, making up 31 percent of overall driving fatalities.

▪ About 1,800 college students, 18-24, die from alcohol-related unintentional injuries, including car crashes.

Otherwise, have a good time tonight. Happy New Year.

This story was originally published December 31, 2017 at 3:01 PM with the headline "New Year’s Eve tips: Avoid celebratory gunfire and watch your drinking."