UFPD joins other law agencies in finding drunken drivers

August 20, 2012

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The University of Florida Police Department is participating with several other agencies and groups in an annual campaign against drunken driving.

Throughout the “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign, UFPD officers will take a proactive approach to traffic violation enforcement in general and DUI enforcement in particular.

The campaign continues through Labor Day weekend and involves the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the Governors Highway Safety Association and the National Center for DWI Courts.

New NHTSA statistics show 70 percent of deaths in drunken driving crashes in 2010 involved drivers with blood-alcohol levels that were nearly twice the .08 legal limits.

Research indicates the 10,228 alcohol-impaired fatalities in 2010 accounted for nearly one out of three highway deaths on U.S. roads – the equivalent of one death every 51 minutes. During the same time period, more than two thirds of drunken driving deaths (7,145 or 70 percent) involved drivers with a blood-alcohol concentration of .15 or higher. Overall, the most frequently recorded BAC among drunken drivers involved in fatal crashes was .18 BAC.

Targeting drivers in the final weeks of summer through the Labor Day holiday weekend, NHTSA’s annual “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” crackdown is focused on reducing the tragic toll caused by impaired drivers every year.

The UFPD will join more than 10,000 police departments and law enforcement agencies across the country in support of this campaign.