DATE: Sunday, June 29, 2014
SUBJECT: July Impaired Driving Enforcement Gets Underway
RELEASE NUMBER: 2014-NR-053
CONTACT: Lt. Noah Robinson
AUTHORITY: Sheriff Dave Wedding
Beginning this past weekend and throughout the rest of July, the Evansville-Vanderburgh County Traffic Safety Partnership has been and will be conducting DUI saturation patrols and sobriety checkpoints. Beyond nightly saturation patrols, a total of two (2) DUI Checkpoints will be conducted during two weekends in July. The checkpoints will occur on either Friday or Saturday evenings and may be active from 11:00pm to 4:00am.
The summer months typically see an uptick in impaired driving related crashes. In 2012, alcohol related crashes resulting in death or injury peaked for the year in June with 254 reported cases across the entire state in just that month alone.
With the approach of the Fourth of July, Sheriff Dave Wedding reminds area residents to celebrate safely. “This Independence Day family and friends will come together and celebrate the birth of our nation. When celebrating with a group of people, it can be easy to ignore or overlook someone who is about to drive away drunk. If you see something, please say something. Don’t rely on someone else to do the right thing.” Sheriff Wedding added, “If you plan on drinking, make arrangements to get home beforehand. Don’t put your friends and family in the position of having to take your keys.”
Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Deputies and Evansville Police Officers will be aggressively looking for drunk drivers and will arrest anyone caught driving impaired. If you have any doubt about your sobriety, please do not get behind the wheel. If you do choose to drive impaired, expect to be arrested. No warnings. No excuses.
Funding for local impaired driving enforcement is provided by the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute (ICJI) through a grant from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
Pictured above: Sheriff’s Deputy monitors nighttime traffic during a sobriety checkpoint
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