DWI crackdown this weekend

Published 11:31 am Monday, June 30, 2008

In the upcoming safe and sober campaign, local and county law enforcement will mobilize sweeps for drunken drivers over the Fourth of July weekend, in hopes that removing the impaired from streets and highways will improve safety during one of the most deadliest months for alcohol-related crashes.

“Law enforcement is serious about taking impaired drivers off the road, and we need citizens to be serious about planning ahead for safe rides to avoid drinking and driving,” Austin Police Chief Paul Philipp said in a press release.

From 2004 to 2006, 67 motorists were killed in alcohol-related crashes and more than 10,000 were arrested for driving under the influence in the month of July alone, according to the press release. In total, those three years resulted in 540 deaths and 113,000 DUI arrests; in Mower County, one died, and 925 were arrested for the offense over that period.

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The press release said alcohol impairment also tends to affect seat belt use, with figures showing that over 70 percent of drivers and passengers killed in drunken driving incidents weren’t buckled in.

“Crash data shows the booze bone is connected to the no-belt bone,” Philipp said in the release, adding that officers will include seat belt enforcement during the DUI blitz. “These two mistakes result in hundreds of deaths each year.”

In Minnesota, about one in eight drivers have been convicted of a DUI offense — that’s more than 500,000 people, the press release said, adding that the crime can cost up to $20,000 when considering increased insurance costs, legal fees and fines. Total economic effect of alcohol-related fatalities was $1.15 million.

Young adults constituted over 35 percent of DUI violations in Mower County between 2004 and 2006, making them one of the primary violators of impaired driving, the press release said. That figure include those under the legal drinking age.

The safe and sober campaign, coordinated by the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, involves 400 Minnesota law enforcement agencies.