Law enforcement across the nation are on the lookout for drunk drivers this holiday season.
The annual Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign is now underway. Through New Year’s Day, officers are stepping up their enforcement efforts reduce drunk driving.
The Triple A is anticipating record numbers of people on the roads through the end of the year…that increases the chances of crashes due to impaired driving.
Sgt. George Martin of the Jonesboro Police Department says last year, over 10-thousand people across the nation died in drunk driving crashes. He says the campaign is designed to reduce injury and death.
Tips given are to let someone else drive if you plan to drink and drive someone home who has been drinking. He says there is a SaferRider mobile app that can be used to pinpoint the location of people who call someone to get them so they can be picked up. Here is more information, courtesy of the Jonesboro Police Department:
This holiday season, Jonesboro police will be out looking for drunk drivers as part of a special year-end Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over enforcement mobilization.
“Beginning December 16 and continuing into the New Year, you will see stepped up enforcement watching closely for anyone who is driving impaired,” said Sergeant George Martin “We want to keep our roads safe for holiday travelers, so we will have zero tolerance for drunk driving.”
“This ought to be the ‘most wonderful time of the year,’ so we will do what it takes to help save lives by keeping our roads safe,” said Sergeant George Martin. “If you choose to drive impaired, not only will you risk your safety, and that of others, but you will also face the legal consequences.”
Drunk driving offenders often serve jail time, lose their driver’s license, are charged higher insurance rates, and pay dozens of other unanticipated expenses ranging from attorney fees, court costs, car towing and repairs, and lost wages due to time off from work. But the ultimate cost of drunk driving is causing a traffic crash that injures or kills.
Follow these trips to stay safe on the road this holiday season:
● If you will be drinking, plan on not driving. Plan your safe ride home before you start the party. Designate a sober driver ahead of time.
● If you become intoxicated, do not drive for any reason. Call a taxi, phone a sober friend or family member. Try NHTSA’s SaferRide mobile app, which allows users to call a taxi or friend and identify their location so they can be picked up.
● If someone you know has been drinking, do not let that person get behind the wheel. Take their keys, take them home, or help them arrange a safe way home.
● If you see an impaired driver on the road, contact your local law enforcement. Your actions could help save someone’s life.
Remember, it is never safe to drink and drive. Jonesboro Police will be looking for drunk drivers. Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over.
