Peachtree City police have announced they will be participating in a drunk driving crackdown from Aug. 16-Sept. 2.
During the “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign, officers “will be aggrssively looking for drunk drivers on the cart paths and on the roadways … and will arrest anyone caught driving drunk.”
The department will also operate a series of sobriety checkpoints to identify impaired drivers during the campaign, police said.
“Every year, about one third of all motor vehicle traffic deaths involve one or more drunk drivers or motorcycle operators,” said Sgt. Brad Williams, citing statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. “In 2011: 9,878 people died in crashes involving drunk drivers. That works out to approximately one drunk driving fatality every 53 minutes.”
Holidays such as the upcoming Labor Day stretch are particularly dangerous, officials said, since 138 people were killed in traffic crashes Labor Day weekend in 2011.
Statistics also show that young drivers pay a heavy toll, as during that same Labor Day weekend, 42 percent of the drivers between 18 and 34 who werre killed in auto crashes were alcohol impaired.
Research has shown that high-visibility enforcement can reduce drunk driving fatalities by up to 20 percent, Williams noted.
“By joining this nationwide effort, we will make Peachtree City’s roadways safer for everyone throughout the Labor Day period,” Williams said.
“We want to remind everyone that getting behind the wheel drunk is a terrible idea. Not only does drinking impair your ability to operate a vehicle safely, it also impairs your judgment and good sense about whether you can, or should drive.
If you have any doubt about your sobriety, do not get behind the wheel. If you do chose to drive impaired, you will be arrested. No warnings. No excuses,” Sgt. Brad Williams said.
Sgt. Brad Williams further noted that being arrested for driving drunk brings a wide range of negative consequences into one’s life. Drunk drivers face jail time, loss of their driver licenses, and steep financial consequences such as higher insurance rates, attorney fees, court costs, lost time at work, and the potential loss of job. When family, friends and co-workers find out, violators also often face tremendous personal embarrassment.
“Driving drunk is simply not worth the risk. So don’t take the chance. Remember, we will be out in force and we will be watching, so ‘Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over,’” said Sgt. Brad Williams.
For more information, visit the “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” Campaign Headquarters at www.TrafficSafetyMarketing.gov.
If you happen to observe unsafe driving actions that need to be immediately reported for the safety of the motoring public then call 911 or the non emergency dispatch number for all of Fayette County at 770-461-4357(HELP). If you have any questions regarding this matter, please contact any member of the Community Response Team at (770) 487-8866 or at traffic@peachtree-city.org. Any additional traffic concerns or resources can be found at www.peachtreecity.org/traffic.
