Local News
Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over Campaign to Run Friday Through Start of New Year
enforcement agencies across the state during the Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over
campaign. Captain Bill Tadych tells us they want everyone to have a merry and
safe holiday season.
He says “have a good
time in moderation is the message we’re trying to get across. So we are going
to be out in full force – and that includes all of the law enforcement agencies
throughout the county and also throughout the state. There’s 25
multi-jurisdictional task forces throughout the state that are going to be
participating with this. So you’re going to be seeing it statewide and we’re
starting December 14th through January 1st.”
Tadych recommends bringing along a sober designated driver –
but even if you don’t have one, there are plenty of options to get home safely.
He points out that you can “go to a
taxi, an UBER driver, there’s a free Drive Sober app out there where you can
find a free ride – if you just go on the Wisconsin DOT website, you can look up
Drive Sober and there’s a mobile app for that. And some restaurants and taverns
also provide a safe ride home.”
Tadych also says that the campaign is well known, but that
doesn’t mean people always make good decisions.
He says “people do
know, but unfortunately
has a strong history of recreational drinking, so to speak. But I think that
the actions we’re taking across the state with the different agencies is having
an effect on people. They think twice about going forward and having too much
to drink. They look at alternate means to get home safely and in the end if
we’re getting that message across, it’s going to make for safer roadways.”
Alcohol-related crashes resulted in 169 deaths and 3,300
injuries in
last year. And while alcohol-impaired drivers remain a concern, a growing
problem involves drugged driving – as the ability to safely operate a vehicle
is compromised by legal or illegal drugs, including prescription and
over-the-counter medications.