(Stillwater, Okla.) As part of a national crackdown called “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over,” the Stillwater Police Department is ramping up enforcement efforts through Labor Day to curb impaired driving and save lives, a news release said.
“Too many people think their actions don’t affect anybody else. They know it’s dangerous. They know it’s illegal. They know it’s wrong.
“But they do it anyway – they make decisions as if those statistics just can’t happen to them,” Stillwater Police Captain Kyle Gibbs said.
The 20-day high-visibility campaign, which began Aug. 21 and continues through Sept. 7, is a partnership with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Gibbs said.
“In 2013, there were 10,076 people killed in drunk-driving crashes, almost a third of all traffic fatalities.
“Thirty-eight percent of crash fatalities on Labor Day weekend that year involved drunk drivers,” with blood alcohol levels of .08 or higher, Gibbs said.
That amounted to 161 lives lost, Gibbs said.
More than a quarter of the crash fatalities that occurred on Labor Day weekend involved aggravated drunk drivers with almost twice the illegal limit, Gibbs said.
Throughout the period ending on Labor Day, “law enforcement partners nationwide will show zero tolerance for drunk driving.
“Increased state and national messaging about the dangers of driving drunk, coupled with checkpoints and increased officers on the road, aim to drastically reduce the toll of drunk driving.
“And what a toll it is,” Gibbs emphasized.
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