Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and Indiana law enforcement agencies kicked off their drunk driving crackdown Friday as part of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)’s national crackdown: Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over.
Nationwide in 2015, over 10,000 people were killed – and 153 on Labor Day weekend – in crashes where a driver had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or higher. MADD’s Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving® calls for high-visibility law enforcement as a key component of eliminating drunk driving deaths and injuries.
This type of enhanced enforcement is especially important because of people like Morgan Brittany Prichard, a young wife, daughter, sister, friend and mother of three, who was killed by a drunk driver on Easter morning, March 27, 2016. Morgan was a beloved member of her community, well loved by her friends and family, and very much loved and needed by her husband and three children.
“With options such as ridesharing and non-drinking designated driver, it is devastating that families in our state continue to be impacted by drunk driving — a 100 percent preventable and violent crime,” said Lael Hill, MADD Indiana Spokesperson. “We are glad that the law enforcement enforces efforts like the Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over crackdown to help reduce drunk driving crashes.”
Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter stated, “Frankly, there simply is no excuse for anyone to drink and drive in the age of Uber and Lyft, so if you make the choice to drink to intoxication, we at the state police will give you a ride to jail.” Supt. Carter concluded, “We’d much rather have people make responsible decisions and choices, but for those who don’t it won’t just be the state police out arresting drunk drivers. This is a concerted effort among all law enforcements throughout Indiana.”
Research shows that highly-publicized, highly-visible and frequent sobriety checkpoints reduce alcohol-related fatalities by approximately 20 percent. NHTSA’s Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over crackdown mobilizes thousands of law enforcement agencies in all 50 states.