Sheriff’s Office To Conduct Sobriety Checkpoints Labor Day Weekend

The Harford County Sheriff’s Office will continue its crackdown on drunk driving this Labor Day weekend with sobriety checkpoints around the county.

The checkpoint will take place during the late evening hours on Saturday August 31, and continue into the early morning hours on Sunday, September 1, according to a release.

In participation with the nationwide “Driver Sober or Get Pulled Over” initiative, deputies will be aggressively looking for drunk drivers during the crackdown, and will arrest anyone caught driving drunk.

The Labor Day crackdown comes a week after another sobriety checkpoint from August 22-23 at eastbound Route 22 and Bynum Park, which led to four arrests. 

“Every year, about one third of all motor vehicle traffic deaths involve one or more drunk drivers or motorcycle operators,” said Sheriff L. Jesse Bane in a release. “In 2011 9,878 people died in crashes involving drunk drivers. That works out to approximately one drunk driving fatality every 53 minutes.”

During the Labor Day weekend in 2011, 138 people were killed nationwide in motor vehicle traffic crashes involving drivers or motorcycle riders with BACs of .08 or higher, according to a release. Of those fatalities, 83 percent occurred during early evening and overnight hours. Sheriff deputies have made 162 drunk driving arrests in 2013.

The sheriff’s office offered the following tips to help motorists and passengers keep safe this Labor Day weekend—and all year long:

• Plan a safe way home before you start the Labor Day festivities

• Before drinking, designate a sober driver

• If you’re drunk, use a taxi, call a sober friend or family member, or use public transportation

• If you see a drunk driver on the road, contact your local law enforcement immediately

• If you know someone who is about to drive or ride while drunk, be a friend and take their keys and help them make other arrangements to get to where they are going safely.

“Driving drunk is simply not worth the risk. So don’t take the chance. Make smart choices and don’t drive drunk or under the influence. We will be out in force and we will be watching, so ‘Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over,’” said Sheriff Bane in a release.

See Also:

• Sobriety Checkpoint Yields 4 Arrests in Bel Air