This holiday season Remember: Drive sober or get pulled over

This holiday season, Winner Police Department will strive to keep vehicle drivers and passengers safe as they search for drunk drivers. From Dec. 13-31 law enforcement is partnering with the Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in a special year-end Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over enforcement mobilization to get drunk drivers off the street and to spread the word about the danger of impaired driving.

“This holiday season, drivers will notice increased enforcement watching closely for anyone who is driving impaired,” said Winner police chief Paul Schueth. “It is vital; we keep our roads and our travelers safe, not just at the holidays, but every day. With extra travelers on the roads and people attending holiday parties, we will likely see an uptick in drunk driving.”

The holidays are a special time in America, full of excitement and endless festivities. Oftentimes, these celebrations bring higher number or drunk drivers to the roads endangering those drivers and others. Drunk driving can have deadly, devastating consequences. Nationally in 2016, 37,461 people were killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes and 28 percent (10,497) died in crashes when a drive had a blood alcohol centration over the limit of .08.

In fact, in Tripp County from October 2016 to present, one person lost their life in a motor vehicle traffic crash due to alcohol involvement along with five other vehicle accidents resulting in injuries reported to have alcohol involvement contributing to the collision.

“This should be a time of happy merrymaking, a time for friends and families to come together for endless laughs, good food, and happy memories,” said Schueth. “We are committed to doing whatever it takes to help save lives by keeping drunk drivers off the road. Choosing to drink and drive is a selfish choice—one that will see harsh consequences.”

Drunk driving offenders often serve time in jail, lost their driver’s license, are charged higher insurance rates and pay dozens of other unanticipated expenses ranging from attorney fees, court costs, car towing and repairs and lost wags due to time off from work. But the ultimate cost of drunk driving is causing a traffic crash that injures or kills.

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