Labor Day is less than three weeks away. This national holiday has one of the highest associated rates of travel, as well as drunk driving arrests. State Patrol officers and local police will undoubtedly be out in full force expecting to catch people who choose to drink and drive in Georgia over the holiday.
Law enforcement officials in Riverside County, CA exemplify the level of attention routinely given to this issue throughout the country as of late. Starting this Friday, agencies will be increasing patrol resources and creating DUI checkpoints in their jurisdiction through Labor Day to show they are serious about preventing drunk driving accidents. Their initiatives are in direct alignment with the national “Drunk Driving: Over the Limit, Under Arrest” campaign.
The county’s task force is a direct reaction to statistics that show roughly one-third of all deaths due to motor vehicle accidents happen where at least one of the two drivers had a blood-alcohol level of .08 or greater. .08 is the legal limit for operating a vehicle in both Georgia and California. Police are seeing results from taking preventative action. The number of drunk driving deaths has dropped by 26 percent in Riverside County over the last three years. The same Labor Day campaign last year resulted in 517 DUI or drug-impaired driving arrests. The number of arrests was up 15 percent over the same period in 2008.
At least 14 checkpoints are planned for 8/20 – 9/4, and at least 24 extra patrols specifically targeting impaired drivers are scheduled to happen within the same dates.
No matter if you will be in Riverside or Clarke County over the next three weeks, it’s always a good idea to plan on having a designated driver when enjoying the holiday.
Source: Southwest Riverside News Network “DUI county-wide crackdown starts Friday” 8/17/10