'Booze It & Lose It' Nets 1,085 Impaired Driving Arrests During 2nd Week
'Booze It & Lose It' Nets 1,085 Impaired Driving Arrests During Second Week; More Than 2,800 Drivers Cited For DWI During The Summer Campaign
RALEIGH, N.C., July 18 Law enforcement officers across the state stepped up enforcement of North Carolina's impaired driving laws during the second week of the summer "Booze It & Lose It" campaign, charging 1,085 people with driving while impaired (DWI). A total of 2,821 drivers were cited for DWI during the campaign, which began June 29 and ended July 15. A total of 1,086 checkpoints and stepped-up patrols were conducted across the state between July 9-15. Counties with the highest number of DWI citations included Wake (141), Forsyth (59) and Mecklenburg (53). Wake also reported 21 arrests of drinking drivers under age 21, who are subject to a .00 alcohol-content standard. Eleven underage impaired drivers were cited in New Hanover County. More than 2,700 checkpoints and stepped-up patrols were held throughout the campaign. In addition to DWI arrests, law enforcement officers issued a total of 8,311 seat belt and 1,147 child passenger safety violations. They discovered a total of 59,280 traffic and criminal violations, including 818 drug charges, 60 firearms violations, and 17 fugitives from justice. They also recovered 73 stolen vehicles. The following are the number of citations issued statewide by law enforcement officers at "Booze It & Lose It" sobriety checkpoints and stepped- up patrols from June 29 to July 15. DWI Occupant Restraint Total Driving Child Checkpoints While Passenger and Impaired Seat Belt Safety Week 1 Patrols Violations Violations Violations June 29-July 7 1,617 1,736 4,930 743 July 9-15 1,086 1,085 3,381 404 Total 2,703 2,821 8,311 1,147 Other Traffic Criminal Violations Violations Other Total *Stolen Traffic Traffic Drug Firearm Vehicles Speeding Violations Violations Violations Violations Recovered 12,148 10,170 34,477 358 31 33 8,753 7,513 24,803 460 29 40 20,901 17,683 59,280 818 60 73 Criminal Violations Other Total Criminal Total Traffic & *Fugitives Violations Criminal Criminal Arrested Not Listed Violations Violations 10 431 820 35,297 7 1,275 1,764 26,567 17 1,706 2,584 61,864 *These columns are not counted into overall total of violations