UFPD on the lookout for drunken drivers on and near campus

October 25, 2012

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The University of Florida Police Department will conduct the Halloween Impaired Driving Campaign that will include saturation patrols from today through Nov. 4.

The UFPD seeks to reduce the number of alcohol-related crashes, fatalities and injuries that occur in and around the campus community. Throughout the campaign, UFPD officers will take a proactive approach to traffic violation enforcement in general and DUI enforcement in particular.

This is part of UFPD’s ongoing participation with the annual anti-drunken driving campaign, “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over.” This is done in conjunction with 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.

The nationwide crackdown comes as 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.

New 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.