'Booze It & Lose It' Nets 1,320 Driving Arrests During First Week
30 November 2000
'Booze It & Lose It' Nets 1,320 Impaired Driving Arrests During First Week of CampaignGHSP Director Calls Attention to Occupant Protection as the Best Defense Against a Drunk Driver RALEIGH, N.C., Nov. 30 Law enforcement across the state stepped-up enforcement of the state's drunk driving laws during the first week of the fall "Booze It & Lose It" campaign, charging 1,320 people with driving while impaired (DWI). The arrests are a result of 778 checkpoints and random patrols conducted across the state between November 17-26. The campaign continues through December 3, and law enforcement in communities across the state are continuing to strictly enforce North Carolina's DWI laws. In addition to cracking down on drunk drivers, law enforcement officers issued 3,935 seat belt and 493 child passenger safety violations. They discovered 7,389 other traffic violations and 1,043 total criminal violations, including 35 felony drug charges, 20 firearms violations and 13 fugitives from justice. "Besides calling attention to the great job being done by officers across the state, I also want motorists to know that law enforcement officers are also paying special attention to ensure that children are riding buckled up," said Joe Parker, director of the Governor's Highway Safety Program. "Properly restraining yourself and your children is the best protection against a drunk driver." According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, nearly two of every three children killed in alcohol-related crashes are passengers riding with an impaired driver. In the majority of these cases, the impaired driver didn't have the presence of mind to make sure the child was buckled up. North Carolina crash data supports this deadly national trend. Eleven unrestrained North Carolina children under age 16 died while traveling with an impaired driver in 1997, and three died in 1999. So far this year, at least three North Carolina children have died in similar circumstances. In a "Tree of Life" tree-lighting ceremony to be held on the south side of the State Capitol on Friday, December 1, all those who were killed in North Carolina traffic crashes in 1999 will be remembered, with an emphasis being placed on those who died in alcohol-related crashes. The public is invited to attend this event, which will begin at 5 p.m. The following are the citations issued statewide by law enforcement officers at "Booze It & Lose It" sobriety checkpoints and random patrols from November 17-26. Reporters may contact local law enforcement agencies for local results and to learn where and when they will be conducting campaign activities: DWI Occupant Restraint Total Driving Seat Child Week Chkpts While Belt Passenger and Impaired Violations Safety Patrols Violations Violations Nov. 778 1,320 3,935 493 17-26 Other Traffic Violations Criminal Violations Other Total Misd. Felony Firearm Speeding Traffic Traffic Drug Drug Violations Violations Violations Violations Violations 12,953 7,389 29,536 391 35 20 Criminal Violations Stolen Fugitives Other Total Total Vehicles Arrested Criminal Criminal Traffic & Recovered Violations Violations Criminal Not Listed Violations 16 13 568 1,043 30,550