The most critical hours of the Critical Days of Summer Published May 22, 2012 By Chief Master Sgt. Ward Hanning Air Education and Traning Command RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- Please read the experience I received from a fellow AETC member regarding the Labor Day driving statistic. The intent here is to provide information and hopefully open everyone's aperture a bit. The sender's personal information was removed after he gave permission to send-on to all of you. Please read on ... Chief Master Sgt. Hanning My thoughts on the most critical hours of the Critical Days of Summer Four years ago my son and his 3 best friends were killed at 10:10pm on Labor Day. They were not impaired, they had ensured the vehicle was road-worthy; they planned their trip so the driver was well rested. They did everything possible to have a safe day. The only thing they did not consider, nor had I, is that there are many in our culture that party to the point of impairment. Needless deaths occurred when 3 people in another car crossed the median on a divided highway and crashed into my son's car. The toxicology report indicated that the driver had been doing drugs starting Friday. Additionally, the type of drugs that he used enabled him to continue partying without sleep thru Monday night. After dark on Labor Day, while driving, the driver simply passed out from the drugs/exhaustion. The last hours of the last days of summer are even more critical than the rest. Maybe not driving after dark on Labor Day could help. My intent is NOT to make people fearful of getting out and having a good time but I do believe extreme caution is warranted. I pray that no one's last party of the summer is truly their last.