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Mocktails Recipes Safety Tips

Mocktails • Recipes • Safety Tips

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Seasonal Mocktails, Recipes and Traffic Safety Tips

These delicious nonalcoholic drink mocktails, recipes, and safety tips are part of the Celebrate Safely, Designate a Driver, and Recipes for the Road campaigns. The FDOT District Two Community Traffic Safety Program has produced unique mocktails and shared nonalcoholic drinks from local Northeast Florida restaurants and bars since 1997. In 2017, we launched our first recipe videos for the 20th Annual Recipes for the Road edition.

We hope you watch, share, and enjoy our alcohol-free drink recipes, appetizer and meal recipes, and safe ABCs of partying tips below. EVEN ONE DRINK of alcohol can slow your reflexes and reaction time, reduce your ability to see clearly, and makes you less alert. Be a part of a safety culture focused on preventing injuries and fatalities on our roads.

Florida Recipes for all your Holidays and New Year Refreshments

Grasshopper Mocha Mocktail
Peach Bella Bellini
Cran-Raspberry Holiday Punch

Nonalcoholic beverages are becoming ever more popular. Trendy virgin cocktails are great for office parties, family gatherings, and social events. There are health benefits to reducing or eliminating alcohol in your diet. Mocktails offer a tasty alternative for designated drivers. Awareness months like Sober October and Dry January promote this healthier lifestyle. Check out our sweet Valentine’s Day-inspired drinks. Below are other alcohol-free cocktails and food recipes for all the festive holidays (typically known for their heavy drinking), like Super Bowl Sunday, Cinco de Mayo, Memorial Day, Independence Day (AKA 4th of July), Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve.

Pineapple Mock-Margarita
Strawberry Basil Infused Water
Sparkling Cherry Love Potion
Candy Cane Mocktini
Nojito Mojito
Sparkling Strawberry Mandarin Mocktail
Hot Citrus Cider
Dreamy Hot Cocoa Recipe and The Marshmallow Snowman
Green Grinch Punch Recipe and Grinch Kabob Instructions

Party Favorite Food Recipes

Sweet & Salty White Chocolate Snack Mix
Festive Holiday Cranberry Brie Appetizer Bites
Chicken Enchilada Quinoa Soup
Cheesy Breadstick Twists
Meatball Slider Pull-Apart Appetizer

The A.B.C. Recipe for Hosting a Safe Party

A – Alcohol Awareness

  • Always serve food with alcoholic beverages.
  • Food slows down the absorption rate of alcohol into the body.
  • Offer non-alcoholic beverages.
  • Make guests feel welcome, no matter what they choose to drink.

B – Buffet

  • Serve protein-rich and starchy foods throughout the evening.
  • By eating first, partygoers may drink less, and the food will help slow the absorption of alcohol into their bloodstream.
  • As the hour becomes late, put away the alcoholic beverages, but continue to offer a good supply of food.
  • Remember, only time will eliminate alcohol from the body.

C – Carpool or Cab

  • Encourage family and friends to ride together and have a pre-selected designated driver.
  • Provide alternatives for guests who may have had too much to drink.
  • Have someone who has not been drinking drive them home.
  • Call a cab or ride-share for guests to have a safe ride home.
  • Let the person sleep overnight rather than getting in their car while intoxicated.

Fall Favorites in Florida are Cool and Refreshing for a Thanksgiving Feast

Pumpkin Spice Smoothie
Festive Sparkling Punch
Apple Cider Float
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Defensive Driving Tools for Safety

Defensive Driving Tools for Safety

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Defensive Driving Tools for Safety was written and presented by Jeff Hohlstein, a Community Traffic Safety Team member in Clay County, Florida. This educational driving and traffic safety video is geared towards aging road users. However, these are essential tips and reminders for all drivers.

Watch the Defensive Driving Video Presentation:

Learn about setting side view mirrors for blind spots. Understand the importance of keeping a safe following distance and obeying the speed limit. The “three-second rule” is a good idea for all drivers to keep in mind. While this rule is flexible and isn’t always appropriate in every driving situation, it can foster good driving habits that reduce the risk of rear-end collisions and similar accidents.

Gain an understanding of observing a vehicle’s front wheels, approaching intersections safely, and scanning through a signalized intersection. Learn how to use the OODA Loop while driving. OODA is an acronym for Observe, Orient, Decide, Act. When you do it again and again, it becomes a constant decision loop. Retired Colonel John Boyd, USAF, developed this rapid decision-making tool. Today, OODA is used by many Armed Forces and Police agencies and can be used as a defensive driving tool for motorists.

Flip through the Defensive Driving Tools for Safety Presentation:

Most people set their side view mirrors straight back and miss their blind spot completely. The video covers how to set your side view mirrors to cover your blind spot.

This video discusses how to use OODA to stay safe while driving. Defensive driving is much about managing space around your vehicle. The most controllable area you have is your safe following distance. OODA will help you do that right. OODA will also help you develop scan patterns for navigating intersections and avoiding a collision when someone unsafely enters your right-of-way.  

Uses of OODA in defensive driving:

  • Observe > Following distance, traffic patterns; intersections of all kinds; vehicles around you.
  • Orient > Calculate the following distance; identify other potential conflicts.
  • Decide > Action to maintain safe following distance; plan to avoid those other conflicts.
  • Act > Establish/reestablish safe following distance; avoid those other conflicts whether or not the crash would have been your fault.
  • Do it again > Practice OODA until it’s as natural as driving itself.
Jeff Hohlstein presenting Defensive Driving Tools for Safety

Click here to read Jeff Hohlstein’s first article, Three Defensive Driving Tools to Avoid Great Impact, and what the video presentation from 2020.

Celebrate Safely, Designate a Driver

Celebrate Safely, Designate a Driver

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Impaired Driving Celebrate Safely
25th Anniversary Poster!

Northeast Florida Community Traffic Safety Program has promoted the Celebrate Safely, Designate a Driver campaign and Recipes for the Road booklet for 25 years. According to Florida’s Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP), one out of every four traffic fatalities in Florida involves a driver impaired by alcohol or drugs.

Celebrate Safely, Designate a Driver and Recipes for the Road focus on the SHSP strategies of both education and insight into creating safer communities, by working with local partners. This includes law enforcement, team members, restaurants, and bars. The goal is to promote responsible alcohol service and personal use at events or party hosting. They also promote safe transportation choices that encourage alternatives to driving while impaired.

Impaired Driving Initiative

The Celebrate Safely impaired driving initiative was created to help reduce alcohol-related traffic deaths and injuries throughout the holiday season. Safety messages are vital at any time of year, especially during the holidays. Important impaired driving safety tips and reminders included in this campaign:

  • Before drinking alcohol, designate a non-drinking driver.
  • Never let your friends drive impaired.
  • Get a safe ride home – call a cab or ride-share service.
  • If you’re hosting a party, offer alcohol-free beverages, serve food, and ensure all guests leave with a sober driver.

During the holiday season, District Two Community Traffic Safety Team (CTST) members reach out to local restaurants and bars to display the Celebrate Safely, Designate a Driver campaign. In the past, materials include 11×17 full-color posters, coasters, stickers, and nonalcoholic recipe books. Numerous neighborhood establishments throughout Northeast Florida participate every year. CTST members, partners, and agencies may click here to order posters and recipe cards for distribution.

This year we have a special 25th-anniversary poster and a four-page recipe card with mocktails, recipes, and impaired driving tips. We also have a unique 16-page flipbook available for viewing online with a PDF download option. In addition to nonalcoholic drinks, there are delicious appetizers, tasty treats, and traffic safety tips for pedestrians, bicyclists, occupant protection, and distracted driving reminders.

Our recipe videos have become very popular – Check out our “Mocktails” webpage! 

Mocktails • Recipes • Safety Tips

Past Celebrate Safely Poster Designs

Celebrate Safely Designate a Driver 2019 Poster
2019-2021 Poster
Celebrate Safely Designate a Driver 2014 Poster
2014-2018 Poster
Celebrate Safely Designate a Driver 2011 Poster
2011-2013 Poster
Celebrate Safely Designate a Driver 1997 Poster
1997-2010 Poster

Free Social Media Resources

Be a Community Traffic Safety Team “Virtual Volunteer” and share these Celebrate Safely images on your social media accounts. Don’t forget to follow and tag us! @trafficsafetyteam on Facebook and Instagram or @trafficsafetyfl on Twitter and Pinterest.

Celebrate Safely Designate a Driver 2022 art
Recipes for the Road

Impaired Driving Information and Resources

Drive to Save Lives

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U R The Key: Drive to Save Lives tour at area high schools

Car crashes continue to be the number one cause of death of teens. Cara Filler, whose identical twin sister was killed in a crash while riding with her boyfriend, who was speeding and showboating, presented Drive to Save Lives to many Jacksonville and St. Augustine high school students. She uses her personal tragedy to educate teens in a positive and simple way on how to be a safe passenger, how to get out of driving with an impaired or dangerous driver, and how to take personal charge of your own safety, emphasizing “your life, your choice.”

Special thanks to Florida SADD and grants from State Farm and the Florida Teen Safe Driving Coalition for making Cara’s life-saving presentations available at eight of our schools.

Your Community Traffic Safety Team and other educational outreach of groups such as SADD and the Teen Safe Driving Coalition continue to do all possible to decrease teen deaths on our roadways. Through presentations such as Cara’s, our community leaders and partners are helping to ensure that teen drivers have the information, motivation, and tools to keep them safe on the road.

Cara’s powerful presentation will not be forgotten by students and faculty, whose response was enthusiastic and positive. A video recorded and produced by Favorite Studios is a highlight of the full presentation.