Hopefully, you are currently enjoying the beginning of your Labor Day break. While many U.S. workers are ready to take a breather over the weekend and relax, law enforcement in Harrisburg and throughout Pennsylvania are hard at work.
Holiday weekends like this one, particularly in the summer, tend to be tainted by the dangers on the roadways. Time off and end-of-summer celebrations often involve alcohol, a reality that isn’t wrong in itself. However, more people on the roads for travel as well as an increased likelihood for drinking combine to make a weekend during which drunk driving accidents are too likely to occur.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation puts significant funding toward anti-DUI efforts during this time of year. Its “Drive Sober Or Get Pulled Over” campaign puts a heavy police presence on the roads in hopes of preventing impaired drivers from getting very far and causing car accidents.
PennDot notes how this year police focus is not shifting but widening somewhat in order to prevent all types of impaired driving, not just drunken driving. Research shows that the rate of drug-related impairment has increased on Pennsylvania roads. Compared to in the past, the threat of drug-related accidents is higher.
Last year, there were 3,306 car accidents related to drug impairment it in Pennsylvania. Also, there were 11,956 drunk driving crashes. Thousands of lives were lost in those impaired driving incidents, and other victims sustained injuries as a result of DUI accidents.
While police worry about arresting drivers who are under the influence this holiday weekend, the general public should be vigilant about their own safety. If a reckless driver threatens one’s safety and causes injury or death, victims have legal rights and could talk with a personal injury attorney about their options.
Source: Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, “PennDOT, Police to Crack Down on Impaired Driving through Labor Day,” Aug. 30, 2013