- 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 88, will run from November 11 through December 04, 2016 and encompass the Thanksgiving Holiday.
- This enforcement campaign will consist of seatbelt patrols, DUI saturation patrols and at least one 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 Criminal Justice Institute (ICJI), in November of 2015 there were 533 alcohol-related crashes across Indiana which resulted in 222 injuries and 7 fatalities. Throughout last November, a car crash took place in Vanderburgh County an average of once every 62 minutes. 173 motorists were injured and one (1) killed 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. Please remember to wear your seatbelt, you’ll avoid a traffic citation and maybe even save your life.
The Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office will be partnering with Eyewitness News (WEHT Local / Local 7 WTVW) during this blitz to offer a unique incentive to Vanderburgh County’s motoring public. Sheriff Dave Wedding will be patrolling area roads during the morning rush hour looking for drivers; not doing something wrong rather something right. Rather than a ticket, drivers will get a gift card from Lucas Oil Center and if they so choose will be featured on Eyewitness News Daybreak at 6AM and 8AM. “We are looking forward to working with Eyewitness News to improve the impact of Operation Safe Family Travel”, Sheriff Dave Wedding said, “so if you see me in your rear view mirror, that could be a good thing!”
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).
