Georgia residents and students may be looking forward to the long weekend coming up. Plans might include a weekend getaway, a barbeque or the completion of a home project. Many folks will probably sit back and relax with a cold beer or glass of wine at some point. But if that is the case, folks need to make sure that they plan ahead for a safe ride home.
This Labor Day weekend, Georgia police officers and troopers will be on the lookout for drunk drivers. Authorities are participating in the annual “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign. Although folks who drink and drive are always at risk of getting pulled over and arrested for DUI, drunk driving campaigns often involve a more aggressive approach when it comes to getting impaired drivers off of the road.
Drinking and driving is never tolerated in Georgia, but the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety reports that these types of campaigns do help to reduce the number of traffic accidents that involve impaired drivers. Drunk driving accidents can be reduced by up to 20 percent when zero tolerance campaigns are enforced, the GOHS estimates.
Drinking alcohol before getting behind the wheel of a vehicle increases one’s risk of causing a crash. During 2010, nearly 300 people died in traffic accidents that involved impaired drivers in the state of Georgia. Hopefully this campaign will remind all motorists of the dangers and legal consequences folks could face if they do make the mistake of getting behind the wheel after drinking alcohol.
Source: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “Statewide DUI crackdown begins this weekend,” David Ibata, Aug. 19, 2012