Millions of Americans will be driving for Independence Day. Police will be watching for drunk drivers.
Washington Post
By Luz Lazo
June 30, 2017
Holiday travel, combined with holiday drinking, results in hundreds of deaths and injuries every Fourth of July weekend.
Over the four-day-long weekend alone, the National Safety Council estimates that nearly 600 deaths and 66,900 injuries requiring medical attention may occur because of crashes. Experts and law enforcement officials say drunk drivers may be a big contributor.
That’s why law enforcement officials are particularly adamant to get the message out to drivers to stay sober, whether driving to a local cookout or going on a road trip to celebrate Independence Day.
Across the Washington region, police will be on the lookout for drunk and distracted drivers all weekend. State police in Virginia and Maryland, along with other local police departments, plan to increase patrols on state and local highways, set up checkpoints and conduct saturation patrols to target impaired drivers.
“Traffic crashes and deaths are prevented when drivers and passengers simply follow the rules of the road,” Virginia State Police Superintendent Col. W. Steven Flaherty said in a statement. “This includes never driving impaired, avoiding distractions while driving and always wearing a seat belt.”
More than 37.5 million Americans, including nearly 1 million in the Washington area, are expected to take a road trip this weekend, one of the busiest travel events of the season. The holiday marks the beginning of summer travel, casual gatherings, outdoor entertaining — and an increase in drunken driving.
On average, about one-third of all road deaths involve at least one impaired driver, data suggests. On holidays, that share tends to be higher. The number rises to 40 percent over the Fourth of July holiday.
“People are barbecuing at night and partying on weekends. All of those things are great … but we have to make sure when people leave the parties, they don’t become part of the statistics,” Montgomery County Council member Marc Elrich (D-At Large) said during the kickoff of the county’s anti-drunk-driving campaign this week.
Officials are urging residents to plan, designate a driver and, if they drink, to find other ways to safely get home. The ride-hailing company Lyft will be offering free rides to deter impaired driving during the holiday as part of the 2017 Independence Day SoberRide program, which runs from 7 p.m. Tuesday until 2 a.m. Wednesday. The promo code to get a ride is SOBERJULY4, and the deal covers one trip up to $15.
“If you don’t have a plan for a safe ride home, we do! And every officer involved in alcohol enforcement takes that responsibility personally,” said Capt. Thomas Didone, with the Montgomery County Police Department.
This week, in an effort to increase awareness, the county launched the “I Take It Personally” campaign, which will include messages on buses, bus shelters, and within the county’s liquor stores and restaurants serving alcohol. Officers will set up checkpoints, patrol areas where there are repeated drinking-related incidents, and work with bars to detect fake IDs and prevent minors from drinking, officials said.
“It will be a comprehensive blitz over the summer, trying to prevent these terrible tragedies from occurring,” Didone said. “If you drink and you decide to drive, we will take it personally.”