'Booze It & Lose It' Nets 1,320 Driving Arrests During First Week
30 November 2000
'Booze It & Lose It' Nets 1,320 Impaired Driving Arrests During First Week of Campaign
GHSP Director Calls Attention to Occupant Protection as the Best Defense
Against a Drunk Driver
RALEIGH, N.C., Nov. 30 Law enforcement across the state
stepped-up enforcement of the state's drunk driving laws during the first week
of the fall "Booze It & Lose It" campaign, charging 1,320 people with driving
while impaired (DWI).
The arrests are a result of 778 checkpoints and random patrols conducted
across the state between November 17-26. The campaign continues through
December 3, and law enforcement in communities across the state are continuing
to strictly enforce North Carolina's DWI laws.
In addition to cracking down on drunk drivers, law enforcement officers
issued 3,935 seat belt and 493 child passenger safety violations. They
discovered 7,389 other traffic violations and 1,043 total criminal violations,
including 35 felony drug charges, 20 firearms violations and 13 fugitives from
justice.
"Besides calling attention to the great job being done by officers across
the state, I also want motorists to know that law enforcement officers are
also paying special attention to ensure that children are riding buckled up,"
said Joe Parker, director of the Governor's Highway Safety Program. "Properly
restraining yourself and your children is the best protection against a drunk
driver."
According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, nearly two
of every three children killed in alcohol-related crashes are passengers
riding with an impaired driver. In the majority of these cases, the impaired
driver didn't have the presence of mind to make sure the child was buckled up.
North Carolina crash data supports this deadly national trend. Eleven
unrestrained North Carolina children under age 16 died while traveling with an
impaired driver in 1997, and three died in 1999. So far this year, at least
three North Carolina children have died in similar circumstances.
In a "Tree of Life" tree-lighting ceremony to be held on the south side of
the State Capitol on Friday, December 1, all those who were killed in North
Carolina traffic crashes in 1999 will be remembered, with an emphasis being
placed on those who died in alcohol-related crashes. The public is invited to
attend this event, which will begin at 5 p.m.
The following are the citations issued statewide by law enforcement
officers at "Booze It & Lose It" sobriety checkpoints and random patrols from
November 17-26. Reporters may contact local law enforcement agencies for
local results and to learn where and when they will be conducting campaign
activities:
DWI Occupant Restraint
Total Driving Seat Child
Week Chkpts While Belt Passenger
and Impaired Violations Safety
Patrols Violations Violations
Nov. 778 1,320 3,935 493
17-26
Other
Traffic Violations Criminal Violations
Other Total Misd. Felony Firearm
Speeding Traffic Traffic Drug Drug Violations
Violations Violations Violations Violations
12,953 7,389 29,536 391 35 20
Criminal Violations
Stolen Fugitives Other Total Total
Vehicles Arrested Criminal Criminal Traffic &
Recovered Violations Violations Criminal
Not Listed Violations
16 13 568 1,043 30,550