During the weekend, troopers statewide made more than 4,700 traffic stops and issued more than 3,100 citations and 3,000 warnings. They were involved in sobriety checkpoints and special enforcement initiatives in various counties. Troopers arrested 71 impaired drivers statewide.
Despite those efforts, troopers were called to respond to 15 crashes that involved suspected impaired drivers. Those crashes included three each in Prince George's and Howard counties, two each in Charles and Wicomico counties, and one each in Caroline, Harford, Worcester, St. Mary's and Cecil counties. Although there were multiple injuries, no fatalities occurred in these crashes.
The State Police Impaired Driving Reduction Effort, or SPIDRE Team, was working DUI enforcement in Prince George's County, where they arrested seven impaired drivers over two days. The team leader, 1/Sgt. David Ryan, was patrolling Rt. 193 about 3:30 a.m. Saturday, when his patrol vehicle was struck in the right front by a driver changing lanes. The 19-year-old driver had a learner's permit and was arrested for driving impaired. Neither he nor 1/Sgt. Ryan was injured. This is the second time 1/Sgt. Ryan has been struck by an impaired driver while working DUI enforcement with the SPIDRE Team.
In Howard County, a motorcyclist attempted to drive between two vehicles while traveling east on I-70 at Rt. 29 shortly before noon yesterday. He lost control and was ejected from his motorcycle. The investigation indicates he was driving impaired. When a friend of his, also driving a motorcycle, stopped at the scene of the crash, he was arrested by troopers for operating under the influence.
In Wicomico County, troopers were called to Mt. Hermon Road and Forest Grove Road in Parsonsburg Friday afternoon, for a single vehicle crash involving a moped. The moped operator apparently lost control of the vehicle and fell off. He was subsequently charged with DUI and related traffic charges.
State troopers work daily to identify and remove impaired drivers from Maryland roads. So far this year, Maryland state troopers have made more than 338,200 traffic stops and almost 4,400 arrests for impaired driving.