Law enforcement cracking down on drunk driving starting Dec. 15 - Yahoo News
Dec. 11—PRINCETON — This holiday season, the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is partnering with the WV Coalfields Highway Safety Program to share the message about the dangers of drunk driving.
NHTSA and the regional highway safety program want all drivers to remember this lifesaving message: Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over. In support of the law enforcement community's dedication to protecting the lives of residents in their communities, motorists will see officers working together Dec. 15 through Jan. 1, 2022, to take drunk drivers off the roads, according to Sgt. Adam Ballard of the Mercer County Sheriff's Department. Ballard is the area's WV Coalfields Highway Safety Program Coordinator.
According to NHTSA, 10,142 people were killed in drunk-driving crashes in 2019, accounting for nearly one-third of traffic crash fatalities. On average, more than 10,000 people were killed each year from 2015 to 2019 — one person was killed in a drunk-driving crash every 52 minutes in 2019, Ballard said. This is why local law enforcement agencies are working with NHTSA to remind drivers that drunk driving is not only illegal, it is a matter of life and death. People heading out to the holiday festivities need to remember: Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over.
"It is extremely important that drivers act responsibly. This includes refraining from impaired driving — not only by alcohol, but drugs too. This is a special time of the year for most, and we really want our community to enjoy this season," Ballard said. "We need commitment from our drivers that they won't drive impaired, so that everyone can have a safe holiday. This senseless act of driving impaired is not only illegal, but it takes lives as well. On average 30 percent of the crashes where someone dies are related to impaired driving in our local area, which includes Mercer County."
Nationally, during the month of December 2019, 837 people lost their lives in traffic crashes involving a drunk driver. During the Christmas and New Year's Day holiday periods in 2019 alone, there were more drunk-driving-related fatalities (210) than during any other holiday period that year. These fatalities are preventable, and drivers must remember that driving impaired by any substance — alcohol or other drugs — is deadly, illegal, and selfish behavior, Ballard stated.
source: https://news.yahoo.com/law-enforcement-cracking-down-drunk-171500736.html
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