Hamilton County Safe Communities Joins National Crackdown

Hamilton County Safe Communities is joining with law enforcement throughout the nation for the “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign August 17 to September 3, 2012. TriHealth is the lead agency for Hamilton County Safe Communities as part of a yearly grant awarded in February aimed at reducing traffic related crashes in Hamilton County through education, public awareness, and building partnerships.

“Labor Day is one of the deadliest holidays due to an increase in impaired-driving fatalities,” said Lt. Steve Schueler, coordinator of the Hamilton County OVI Task Force. “Too many people die behind the wheel each year due to those who choose to drive after drinking, so our officers will be out in full force this holiday showing zero tolerance for impaired drivers.”

The strong nationwide impaired driving crackdown will include high-visibility enforcement, high-profile events, and will be supported by national paid advertising, creating a comprehensive campaign to curb alcohol impaired driving in August through the Labor Day holiday weekend. The local Drive Sober event will take place on Thursday, August 16th at 12:00pm at Festival Park in Newport, Kentucky.

Despite the increase in impaired driving awareness and enforcement, the percentage of fatalities from impaired driving spike around the Labor Day holiday. Local law enforcement will be aggressively looking for impaired drivers during the crackdown and will arrest anyone caught driving impaired.

Lt. Schueler said that there are numerous consequences as a result of being caught driving impaired, such as the risk of killing or injuring others, jail time, insurance hikes, and driver’s license suspension, just to name a few. The average cost of a DUI conviction is approximately $10,000, according to msn.com.

“Those who drive while impaired should be forewarned. The 26 member police agencies of the Hamilton County OVI Task Force will be looking for impaired drivers, and we will catch and arrest you. No warnings. No excuses. If you drive impaired, you will be arrested,” said Lt. Schueler.

The Hamilton County OVI Task Force recommends these simple tips for a safe summer:

• Plan a safe way home before the fun begins
• Before drinking, designate a sober driver
• Remind your friends to drive sober
• For more information, please visit www.nhtsa.gov/drivesober