SUBJECT: Upcoming “Safe Family Travel” Enforcement
RELEASE NUMBER: 2015-NR-075
CONTACT: Lt. Noah Robinson
AUTHORITY: Sheriff Dave Wedding
The Evansville-Vanderburgh County Traffic Safety Partnership will be out in force this month as part of the annual statewide “Safe Family Travel” seatbelt and drunk driving enforcement campaign. This high-visibility enforcement effort, also known as Operation Pull Over Blitz 84, will run from November 13 through December 06, 2015 and encompass the Thanksgiving Holiday.
This enforcement campaign will consist of seatbelt patrols, DUI saturation patrols and at least one sobriety checkpoint. These efforts are all part of a comprehensive plan to curb drunk driving and increase seatbelt use in November and throughout the Thanksgiving holiday.
According to the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute (ICJI), in November 2014 there were 520 alcohol-related crashes across Indiana which resulted in 235 injuries and 3 fatalities. Additionally, in the same month, crash reports indicated that 276 accidents involved an unrestrained driver or a passenger, resulting in 303 injuries and 15 fatalities.
Throughout last November, a car crash took place in Vanderburgh County an average of once every 66 minutes. 174 motorists were injured and three (3) were killed on Vanderburgh County roadways last November. Only 20% of motorists who were buckled up sustained injuries, whereas over 64% of unrestrained motorists were injured. Alcohol impairment was a factor in nearly 5% of all the collisions reported last November.
Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Deputies, Evansville Police Officers and Indiana State Police Troopers will be aggressively looking for drunk drivers and will arrest anyone caught driving impaired. Please remember to wear your seatbelt, you’ll avoid a traffic citation and maybe even save your life.
This Thanksgiving Holiday, if you choose to drive impaired you will be arrested. No warnings. No excuses.
Funding for local seatbelt and impaired driving enforcement is provided by the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute (ICJI) through a grant from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
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