The Evansville-Vanderburgh County Traffic Safety Partnership will be increasing patrols this November and December as part of the annual statewide “Safe Family Travel†seatbelt and drunk driving enforcement campaign. This high-visibility enforcement effort, also known as Operation Pull Over Blitz 92, will run from November 10 through December 03, 2017 and encompass the Thanksgiving Holiday.
This enforcement campaign will consist of seatbelt patrols, DUI saturation patrols and may include a sobriety checkpoint. These efforts are all part of a comprehensive plan to curb drunk driving and increase seatbelt use in November and throughout the Thanksgiving holiday. This Thanksgiving Holiday, if you choose to drive impaired you will be arrested. No warnings. No excuses.
According to the Indiana State Police central crash report repository, in November of 2016 there were 407 confirmed alcohol-related crashes across Indiana which resulted in 166 injuries and 8 fatalities. Throughout last November, a car crash took place in Vanderburgh County an average of once every 63 minutes. A total of 137 motorists were injured on Vanderburgh County roadways last November.
Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office deputies, Evansville Police Department officers and Indiana State Police troopers will be aggressively looking for drunk drivers and will arrest anyone caught driving impaired.
Sheriff Dave Wedding stated, “Please remember to wear your seatbelt, you’ll avoid a traffic citation and maybe even save your life.” The Sheriff added, “With all of the options available for getting home safely, there really is no excuse for getting caught driving impaired.”
The Sheriff’s Office recommends the following safe alternatives to impaired driving:
- Designate a sober driver or voluntter to be a sober driver.
- Use public transportation.
- Call a cab or a ridesharing service.
- Download the SaferRide mobile app on the Android Play Store or the Apple iTunes Store.
- Celebrate at home or a place where you can stay until sober.
- Throwing a party? Offer non-alcoholic beverages and plenty of food.
- Never provide alcohol to minors.
- Ask young drivers about their plans.
- Friend or family member about to drive? Take the keys and make alternative arrangements.
Funding for local seatbelt and impaired driving enforcement is provided by the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute (ICJI) through a grant from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
