The Berrien County Sheriff’s Department will be stepping up enforcement on the roads this month as Labor Day approaches.
Berrien County Undersheriff Greg Sanders tells us a Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over high-visibility enforcement campaign will start on August 10 and continue through September 2. This comes at a time when the sheriff’s department has been seeing more drunk driving crashes in the area.
“They have been up in Berrien County and it’s one of those things where we want to get the word out to everyone that’s traveling to have that in the back of their mind,” Sanders said. “If they’re drinking, have a designated driver.”
Sanders says police will be out in force looking for drunks, but that’s not all. He says drugged driving is also a problem, although that’s harder for officers to detect.
Sanders notes you can get a heavy fine, drastically increased insurance rates, and more for drunk driving.
“We just want to get the word out that it’s not worth endangering other people’s lives there. It is a severe penalty, possibly jail time.”
Sanders says if you hurt someone while driving drunk, then the penalties will certainly be even more severe.
Sanders urges all late summer partiers to arrange for a ride before drinking or to call for a ride when needed. The sheriff’s department says if you spot a drunk driver, contact police immediately to help protect others.
