Labor Day Crackdown / “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over.”

Regional Labor Day Crackdown Runs From August 16 to September 2, 2013 against Impaired Driving

August/Labor Day Crackdown

Fact Sheet/Talking Points

The Worcester County Sheriff’s Office and Local Law Enforcement Agencies Across Maryland Band Together as Summer Ends in the Fight Against Impaired Driving 

Our message remains as important as ever: “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over.”

• Checkpoint Strikeforce – Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over of Maryland, the District of Columbia and Virginia is one of the largest multi-state, cooperative efforts to stop impaired driving in the nation.  The campaign creates awareness among drivers of sobriety checkpoints, saturation patrols and the severe penalties for driving impaired. 

• Impaired driving continues to take a terrible toll on Maryland where every year one-third of all fatalities on our roads are caused by impaired drivers.
• Every 47 hours someone in Maryland dies in an impaired driving[1] crash.
• Between 2008–2012, 875 people in Maryland lost their lives in impaired driver related crashes.  75% of these fatalities occurred at night. 
• Maryland impaired driving fatalities showed a 4% decrease in 2012 (the first decrease in 4 years). In 2012, 173 people lost their lives in an impaired driving crash (still one-third—34%—of all fatalities for that year). 
• Fatal crashes showed a steeper decrease—10%—between 2011 and 2012. In 2011, there were 164 impaired fatal crashes; in 2012, there were 147. 
• This year’s campaign will run from mid-August through the Labor Day holiday (August 16 through September 2).
• Our strategies and tactics are also simple:  Be visible, be vigilant and let local motorists know that if they drive impaired, they will be caught and they will be arrested.
• The Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign is an opportunity to keep Maryland residents and visitors safe on state road and highways and actively move Maryland Toward Zero Deaths. 

SAFETY TIPS FOR DRIVERS
Here are some simple tips to help motorists and passengers keep safe this Labor Day holiday period—and all year long. 

o Plan a safe way home before you start the Labor Day festivities;
o Before drinking, designate a sober driver; 
o If you’re drunk, use a taxi, call a sober friend or family member, or use public transportation;
o Use your community’s sober ride 
o If you see a drunk  driver on the road, contact Worcester County Sheriff’s Office immediately;
o If you know someone who is about to drive while drunk, be a friend and take their keys and help them make other arrangements to get to where they are going safely.