As the dreary weather that characterizes Binghamton winters comes to an end, students are beginning to take advantage of everything the newfound sunshine has to offer. This includes the numerous bar crawls and day drinking events that have become increasingly common in Binghamton. These events see students flock to State Street and the Downtown area in large numbers, but the 4 1/2-mile trek from the University to Downtown Binghamton often proves challenging to the thousands of students that live on-campus.

Unfortunately, some students make the decision to combine their choice of transportation — driving — with drinking. This semester alone, a member of the Student Association (SA) E-Board and a Binghamton student-athlete have been arrested for driving while intoxicated while making the trip back to campus from Downtown.

While all students are aware of the dangers of drunk driving, the sad truth is that many ignore the information presented to them and simply choose to drive while intoxicated.

Just last year, a visiting student was injured in a car accident on Parade Day because a drunk driver was behind the wheel. As the student body grows towards an ambitious 20,000 by 2020, businesses have begun to rebound in the Binghamton area and a more vibrant off-campus culture has been cultivated. With this culture comes an uptick in the number of breweries, bars and drinking-related events that are available to students. This broadened set of social opportunities, however, should not cause an increase in the number of DWIs.

We celebrate the right to drink responsibly, but driving while intoxicated should not be tolerated by anyone. And this responsibility primarily lies with the students. We know that the cabs in Binghamton are less-than-pleasant for a multitude of reasons. If Uber successfully comes to the city, there will be far easier methods of getting home from a night out.

Also, the new walking path set to appear in the coming years will make it easier to bike or walk Downtown. But for now it is up to students to use other means to avoid getting behind the wheel drunk. Merely planning for a place to stay, a designated driver, taking cab money or knowing the late-night bus schedule can help avoid potentially disastrous consequences.

But you know all of that. Most people do. Most are aware of how dangerous driving drunk is to themselves and to others. Progress comes, however, by not only being aware of these dangers, but by actually caring about them. There will always be those who, at least in the moment, feel superhuman, invincible to the potential harm they are placing upon themselves and others. That’s where the community comes in. It’s time for the students, the SA and the University to come together to help prevent these incidents from happening.

The University is lacking in effective drunk driving mitigation programs. Just as RAs and University staff work to combat crimes such as assault, they should work to minimize drunk driving.

Similarly, it would greatly serve students if the University worked with UPD to set up more checkpoints on busy nights. A UPD officer could be stationed in large student parking lots, checking to see if intoxicated students are entering cars. UPD staff could also be positioned more heavily at entrances to campus in order to deter students from trying their luck behind the wheel.

With the recent increase in drinking events scheduled during the daytime, it would be beneficial for OCCT to provide a more weekday-like schedule on busy weekend days. Increased off-campus bus trips will give students looking to head Downtown for bar crawls or day parties more options and decrease the risk of poor judgement.

While it may be impossible to control the actions of every student that decides to drink, we as a campus community can help prevent drunk driving from becoming a common occurrence. Getting behind the wheel while intoxicated is inexcusable, but the reality is that it’s happening. Instead of treating these incidents as isolated events, we must acknowledge the fact that alcohol plays a role in the lives of many BU students and work together to stop drunk driving.