Sober driving campaign kicks off

LITTLE ROCK — Law enforcement agencies across Arkansas are launching a twoweek intensified enforcement plan aimed at drivers who choose to drive impaired.

In advance of the holiday travel period, state troopers, local police, and sheriff’s deputies will step up patrols along U.S. and state highways, as well as local streets and county roads.

Beginning Friday and continuing through Jan. 1, motorists will see an increased law enforcement presence, according to a news release from the Arkansas State Police.

The national Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over operation is intended to drastically reduce drunk driving on the nation’s roadways.

Reports from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show that on average more than 10,000 people were killed each year from 2014 through 2018 as the result of drunk driving related crashes.

“The Christmas and New Year’s holiday period should be an enjoyable time for our Arkansas families, not a marker of death for a loved one who was involved in a drunk driving crash,” said Colonel Bill Bryant, Director of the Arkansas State Police and the Governor’s Highway Safety Representative. “We need a commitment from everyone that they’ll drive sober so that everyone can have a safe holiday.”

The Arkansas Highway Safety Office and NHTSA wants to remind everyone of precautions to take to ensure everyone gets home safely:

■ It is never okay to drink and drive. Even if you’ve had only one alcoholic beverage, designate a sober driver or plan to use public transportation or a ride service to get home safely.

■ If you see an impaired driver on the road, contact the nearest law enforcement agency.

■ Guard against allowing a friend who has been drinking to drive.

(For more information about this campaign, go online to 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 TZDArkansas.org.)