Drunk driving is one of America’s deadliest crimes. Two of three drivers involved in fatal crashes between the hours of midnight and 3:00 A.M. were drunk. Over 10,000 people die each year at the hands of drunk drivers which is equivalent to 20 jumbo jets crashing each year. Additionally, for the past five years over 800 people were killed over Labor Day weekends at the hands of drunk drivers.
For these reasons the Miami County Sheriff’s Office will be joining with thousands of other law enforcement agencies across the nation this Labor Day holiday to take part in the “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” crackdown on impaired drivers.
Driving with a BAC of .08 or higher is illegal in every state. Yet we continue to see far too many people suffer debilitating injuries and loss of their loved ones as a result of impaired driving. To help keep this from happening the Miami County Sheriff’s Office is dedicated to arresting impaired drivers wherever and whenever they are found.
The national “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” impaired driving crackdown is a prevention program organized by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that focuses on combining high-visibility enforcement with heightened public awareness through advertising and publicity.
The extra deputies are being funded by a grant the Sheriff’s Office received late last year from the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services. The grant pays for the overtime the deputies accrue during the enforcement campaign and some fuel costs.
For more information, visit www.StopImpairedDriving.org.