SOUTHERN MARYLAND (Aug. 28, 2007)—All southern Maryland police units will be conducting an extensive crackdown on DUI drivers this coming Labor Day weekend. Checkpoints are being conducted in conjunction with the “Over the Limit, Under Arrest” crackdown on drunk drivers between Aug. 17 and Labor Day. The Charles, Calvert and St. Mary’s County sheriff’s offices and the Maryland State Police are participating in the nationwide initiative.
Drunk driving is one of America’s deadliest crimes, say local police officials. In 2005, nearly 13,000 people died in highway crashes involving a driver or motorcycle operator with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or higher. Forty-one percent of the 1,878 motorcycle operators who died in single-vehicle crashes in 2005 had BAC levels of .08 or higher.
The national “Drunk Driving, Over the Limit, Under Arrest” impaired driving crackdown is a prevention program organized by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which focuses on combining high-visibility enforcement with heightened public awareness through advertising and publicity.
The Maryland State Police, La Plata Barrack, will be conducting a sobriety checkpoint on Sunday, September 2, 2007.
The Charles County Sheriff's Office will conduct checkpoints between 8 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 31 and 1 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 1. The Sheriff’s Office is not disclosing the location of the checkpoints but signs on the roadway will advise motorists as they approach them. Officers will check all vehicles that pass through the checkpoints and drivers who are found to be intoxicated will be arrested.
The St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office, in conjunction with the Maryland State Police, will conduct an initiative which will include Speed Enforcement, Aggressive Driving Patrols, DWI Saturation Patrols and Community Policing Team activity in communities throughout St. Mary's County. The activities are planned from Friday, August 31, 2007 through Sunday, September 3, 2007.
Neither the Calvert County Sheriff's Office nor the Prince Frederick State Police Barrack has made a public announcement regarding specific dates or locations for checkpoints.
This year’s effort is supported by $11 million in paid-national advertising to help put everyone on notice if they are caught driving impaired, they will be arrested.
For more information, visit
http://www.stopimpaireddriving.com/