Booze It & Lose It' Nets 61 Impaired Driving Arrests During First Weekend of Campaign
24 November 1999
Booze It & Lose It' Nets 61 Impaired Driving Arrests During First Weekend of Campaign
GHSP Director Warns That Impaired Driving Will not Be Tolerated
During Holiday Season
RALEIGH, N.C., Nov. 23 -- North Carolina law enforcement
officers were out in full force this weekend as part of the Fall "Booze It &
Lose It" campaign to remind motorists that impaired driving will not be
tolerated anywhere in the state.
Sobriety checkpoints in Asheville, Charlotte, Greensboro, Greenville,
Raleigh and Wilmington netted 61 driving while impaired (DWI) arrests over the
weekend of November 19-21, and law enforcement in communities across the state
are continuing to strictly enforce North Carolina's DWI laws.
"As motorists hit the road during this busy time of the year, law
enforcement officers are stepping up enforcement of the state's anti-driving
while impaired laws," said Joe Parker, director of the Governor's Highway
Safety Program. "Tragedies associated with drunk driving, however, can occur
any time of the year not just during the holidays. We want people to know
that law enforcement officers will be out stopping drunk drivers no matter
what the season."
During last year's Thanksgiving holiday season, 29 people died and 1,492
were injured on North Carolina roads, making the four-day weekend the most
dangerous time of year to be on the road.
Besides charging impaired drivers, law enforcement officers at these
checkpoints issued 48 seat belt and 11 child safety seat citations. They also
discovered 512 other traffic violations and 66 total criminal violations,
including nine felony drug charges, five firearms violations, and four
fugitives from justice. Additional checkpoints and roving patrols will be
conducted by law enforcement across the state throughout the campaign, which
continues through December 5.
Beginning July 1, 2000, law enforcement officers will have another tool,
in the form of tougher legislation, to combat drunk driving. The new law will
lower the breath-alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.04 for those who have been
convicted of one DWI and have had their license reinstated. Chronic offenders
will also be targeted by the new law, which will lower the legal BAC to 0.00
for those who have been convicted of a second DWI and have had their license
reinstated.
See below for weekend sobriety checkpoint results. Reporters may contact
local law enforcement officials to learn where and when they will be
conducting "Booze It & Lose It" checkpoints.
For more information about this or other highway safety issues, contact
Public Information Officer Jill Warren Lucas or Deputy Public Information
Officer Erica Hinton at 919-733-3083, or visit the web site at:
http://www.dot.state.nc.us/services/ghsp .
The following are the citations issued by law enforcement officers at
"Booze It & Lose It" sobriety checkpoints in six locations the weekend of
November 19-21:
Other
DWI Occupant Restraint Traffic Violations
Driving Child
While Safety Other Total
Checkpoint Impaired Seat Belt Seat Traffic Traffic
Location Violations Violations Violations Speeding Violations Violations
Asheville/ 5 7 2 4 69 73
Buncombe
County
Charlotte/ 14 0 2 0 60 60
Mecklenburg
County
Greenville/ 3 6 3 0 87 87
Pitt County
Greensboro/ 16 5 4 18 43 61
Guilford
County
Raleigh/ 9 2 0 0 24 24
Wake County
Wilmington/ 14 28 0 102 105 207
New Hanover
County
Total 61 48 11 124 388 512
Criminal Violations
Other
Criminal
Misdemeanor Felony Stolen Violations
Checkpoint Drug Drug Firearm Vehicles Fugitives Not
Location Violations Violations Violations Recovered Arrested Listed
Asheville/ 2 0 0 0 0 7
Buncombe
County
Charlotte/ 1 3 2 6 0 0
Mecklenburg
County
Greenville/ 0 0 0 0 1 3
Pitt County
Greensboro/ 7 6 2 0 3 3
Guilford
County
Raleigh/ 0 0 0 0 0 17
Wake County
Wilmington/ 2 0 1 0 0 0
New Hanover
County
Total 12 9 5 6 4 30
Total
Total Traffic &
Checkpoint Criminal Criminal
Location Violations Violations
Asheville/ 9 96
Buncombe
County
Charlotte/ 12 88
Mecklenburg
County
Greenville/ 4 103
Pitt County
Greensboro/ 21 107
Guilford
County
Raleigh/ 17 52
Wake County
Wilmington/ 3 252
New Hanover
County
Total 66 698