‘Drive sober’ enforcement begins today

As Arkansans begin looking forward to plans of a final summer getaway, law enforcement officers are preparing to saturate the highways with additional patrols during the Labor Day holiday. The mission is to keep streets and highways safe by identifying and arresting drunk drivers.

The Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over impaired driving awareness campaign begins Friday, August 20, and will remain active through September 6. Arkansas State Troopers, sheriff’s deputies and city police officers will be unified during the operation designed to arrest drunk drivers who threaten the safety of others traveling on Arkansas roads.

“We want our community members to understand that it’s our first priority to keep people safe, so we’re asking everyone to plan ahead if

they know they’ll be out drinking,” said El Dorado Police Public Information Officer Lt. Andrew Russell. “We need commitment from our community members that they’ll keep the streets free of drunk drivers so that everyone can have a safe holiday. This is a campaign to get the message out that drunk driving is illegal and it takes lives. Let’s make this a partnership between law enforcement and drivers: Help us protect the community and put an end to this senseless behavior.”

Lives lost in highway crashes across the nation involving alcohol impaired drivers during 2019 totaled 10,142, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). That’s one person killed every 52 minutes in a drunk driving crash. On average, more than 10,000 people were killed in drunk driving crash each year from 2015 to 2019.

“The statistics left behind from these deaths each year represent thousands of sad and troubling stories from the families of each victim,” said Colonel Bill Bryant, director of the Arkansas State Police. “That’s why law enforcement agencies in Arkansas are working together with NHTSA to remind drivers that drunk driving is not only illegal, but also a matter of life and death for those who count on us to keep the highways safe by arresting drunk drivers.”

The Arkansas Highway Safety Office and NHTSA are reminding everyone of the many resources available to get them home safely and offer these tips:

• If you plan on drinking, plan not to drive.

• Plan a safe way home before you leave. It’s never okay to drink and drive, even if the driver has consumed only one alcoholic beverage.

• Designate a sober driver or plan to use public transportation to get to your destination safely.

• If you’ve been drinking, call a taxi or someone who is sober to drive you home.

• If you see a drunk driver on the road, call 9-1-1.

• If you know someone who is about to drive or operate a motorcycle or any other vehicle while impaired, take their keys and help them make other arrangements to get to their destination safely.

• Buckle up, always. Your seat belt is your best defense against the drunk driver.

“The Drive Sober or Get

Pulled Over campaign is more than just a partnership among law enforcement to remove drunk drivers from the highway during the Labor Day holiday,” Bryant said. “We need the commitment from communities and citizens to work with law enforcement every day and help keep the streets and highways safe for everyone.”

For more information on impaired driving, visit nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/ drunk-driving or call the Arkansas Highway Safety Office at 501-618-8136. For more on Arkansas’ ongoing Toward Zero Deaths campaign to eliminate preventable traffic fatalities, visit www.TZDArkansas. org

“Drunk driving is not acceptable behavior, especially when there are so many safe alternatives to get you home safely,” said Russell.