With always the potential for inattentive drivers and overflow crowds on the highways rolled into the heavy volume of those bound for one last fling at the beach, maybe headed to their first tailgate party of the new football season, or even taking older teens off to college, the final days of Summer have become a dangerous time to be on the roads. Especially with the party atmosphere that highlights the long holiday weekend.
In their ongoing bid to keep everyone as safe as possible, law enforcement will amp up their Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign starting tomorrow and running through September 3rd.
The long weekend and beyond is typically celebrated through cookouts, sports activities, and a final trip to the waterfront as families and friends enjoy the waning days of summer. The Labor Day weekend can also be deadly, with impaired drivers endangering themselves and others on America’s roadways.
This Labor Day and every day: Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over. This drunk driving campaign aims to reduce traffic crashes, fatalities, and injuries.
The end of summer is traditionally marked by the Labor Day holiday, a time for friends and families to enjoy pool parties, backyard barbecues, and other activities to enjoy the last days of summer. Sadly, the Labor Day holiday has also become one of the deadliest, with drunk drivers endangering themselves and others. This year, Michigan State Police at the Paw Paw Post are partnering with the Office of Highway Safety Planning to get drunk drivers off the roads and help save lives. So are the Berrien County Sheriff’s Department, the St. Joseph Department of Public Safety, the Bridgman City Police Department, the New Buffalo City Police Department, and the Benton Harbor Department of Public Safety.
Sgt. Melisa Bernum says, “We need people to understand: It’s up to them to make the smart decision to drive sober—Labor Day and every day.” She contends, “Drunk driving is a huge problem and the numbers are rising, little by little. This isn’t about a ticketing campaign. This is about a campaign to get the message out that drunk driving is illegal, and it takes lives. Help us put an end to this senseless behavior.”
The high-visibility national enforcement campaign, Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over, runs from August 17th-to-September 3rd. During that period, local law enforcement will show zero tolerance for drunk driving. Increased state and national messages about the dangers of driving impaired, coupled with enforcement and increased officers on the road, aim to drastically reduce drunk driving on the nation’s roadways.
Statistics prove there is still a lot of work to do to end impaired driving. In 2017, a total of 320 people died in Michigan as a result of alcohol-involved traffic crashes and 221 people died as a result of drug involved traffic crashes. Nationwide, between 2012 and 2016, on average, 10,000 people were killed each year, with one person killed every 50 minutes in 2016. That’s the equivalent of 20 jumbo jets crashing each year, with no survivors.
Over the 2017 Labor Day holiday period in Michigan, 15 people died in traffic crashes. Of the 15 people killed over the Labor Day holiday, 26.6 percent involved alcohol.
In Michigan, it is illegal to drive with a blood alcohol content (BAC) of .08 or higher, although motorists can be arrested at any BAC level if an officer believes they are impaired. Motorists face enhanced penalties if arrested for a drunk driving offense with a .17 BAC or higher.
The Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign is supported with federal traffic safety funds provided by the U.S. Department of Transportation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
