MEDIA RELEASE: 08/14/19
CELEBRATION, NOT INCARCERATION
The numbers are shocking: In 2017 (the most recent year data is available), one person died every 48 minutes in a drunk-driving crash in the United States. These deaths account for approximately one-third of all traffic deaths each year, or, 10,874 in 2017. Despite laws in every state, the numbers remain similar year after year. Ultimately, drinking and driving is a choice, and it is a choice that puts all road users at risk.
With the summer coming to an end and the Labor Day weekend just around the corner, there will be last-minute trips and celebrations that will result in more vehicles on the roads than usual. Some of the celebrations will involve alcohol. If drivers are impaired by any substance – alcohol or drugs - they should not get behind the wheel of a vehicle.
Last year, in Iowa, there were five fatalities over the three-day Labor Day weekend. That is five too many! To help keep people safe on roads and put an end to drunk driving, the Marshalltown Police Department and Marshall County Sheriff’s Office will have extra law enforcement out in support of the 2019 Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign. From August 16 through September 2, 2019, officers will be out in full force pulling over and arresting drunk drivers.
The Iowa Department of Public Safety and the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau reminds you:
If You Feel Different, You Drive Different. Drive High, Get a OWI
Released by:
Lt. Rick Bellile, Marshalltown Police Department
Sgt. Ben Veren, Marshall County Sheriff’s Office