North Carolina Launches 1998 Fall 'Booze It & Lose It' Program
23 November 1998
North Carolina Launches 1998 Fall 'Booze It & Lose It' Program
Crackdown On Drunk Drivers Begins This Weekend Prior To The Holiday Travel
Rush
RALEIGH, N.C., Nov. 20 -- Starting today, law enforcement
officers begin stepped-up enforcement of driving-while-impaired (DWI) laws
with "Booze It & Lose It" sobriety checkpoints and roving patrols across North
Carolina.
"State and local law enforcement officers will be out in force making sure
our roads are safe for travelers, starting this weekend and throughout the
holiday season," Lt. Gov. Dennis Wicker said today at the "Booze It & Lose It"
kickoff.
"If you drink and drive in North Carolina, you're going to get caught,"
Wicker said. "You can lose your license, your car, and get put in jail. On
Dec. 1, new laws take effect that will cost you even more if you're driving
while impaired. It's time to put a stop to drunk driving in North Carolina."
City police agencies, county sheriff's offices, North Carolina State
Highway Patrol troopers, and other state law enforcement agencies joined state
officials in downtown Raleigh today to launch "Booze It & Lose It" prior to
the busy holiday travel season. These agencies will join forces the next two
weeks to strictly enforce the drunk driving laws. Sobriety checkpoints will be
held in communities across the state, including Asheville, Charlotte,
Fayetteville, Greensboro, Greenville, and Wilmington this weekend.
"North Carolina already has some of the toughest impaired driving laws in
the nation," said Wicker, who is chairman of the Governor's Task Force on
Driving While Impaired. "We are putting drunk drivers on notice that our laws
get even tougher on Dec. 1. We want to make sure motorists know ahead of time
that these laws are taking effect and that drunk drivers will be caught and
punished in accordance with the law."
The new laws:
-- Double the maximum fine for all DWI offenses.
-- Create a "zero-tolerance law" for drivers of commercial vehicles,
school buses, and child care vehicles. Impose a 30-day administrative
license revocation for underage drinking drivers.
-- Improve the state's DWI vehicle seizure/forfeiture law by streamlining
the judicial process, expediting the sale of impounded vehicles, and
making it easier for innocent owners to reclaim their vehicles. (This
provision took effect Oct. 15, 1998.)
To assist law enforcement officers at sobriety checkpoints, two
breath-alcohol testing mobile units, better known as BATmobiles, will be in
operation during "Booze It & Lose It." The state's first BATmobile,
coordinated by the Forensic Tests for Alcohol Branch of the Department of
Health and Human Services, has been on the road for more than two years. This
year, the Highway Patrol has launched its own BATmobile, which is being put
into operation for the first time during this "Booze It & Lose It" campaign.
In addition to local efforts, North Carolina law enforcement officers will
be participating in the national "Operation ABC Mobilization: America Buckles
Up Children" that will run during the first week of "Booze It & Lose It," Nov.
23-29. Tyrrell County Chief Deputy Larry Hill will represent North Carolina in
Washington, D.C., on Monday, Nov. 23, at the national "Operation ABC" launch.
Hill will join his colleagues across the nation in this program to save
children from the leading cause of death -- traffic crashes.
"While the holidays are normally a time to focus on what can be done to
stop drunk driving, we also want to make sure we buckle up ourselves and our
children, especially as we travel to our Thanksgiving destinations," said
North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Jim Long. Long will receive the National
Commission Against Drunk Driving's 14th Annual Government Leadership Award on
Monday, Dec. 14, in Washington, D.C., for his involvement with the "Booze It &
Lose It" campaign and the Governor's Task Force on DWI.
"Always wear your seat belt," Long said. "It's your best defense against a
drunk driver."
Last Thanksgiving weekend, 22 people died in North Carolina highway
crashes; three of those fatalities were alcohol-related. There were 462
alcohol-related traffic fatalities in North Carolina in 1997, an increase of
0.43 percent from the 460 alcohol-related deaths in 1996. Alcohol-related
fatalities represent 31.2 percent of all deaths on North Carolina roads.
"Safety on our highways is the North Carolina Department of
Transportation's No. 1 priority," Transportation Secretary Norris Tolson said.
"With the holidays approaching, it's all the more important to play it safe
when you get behind the wheel."
Durham County District Attorney James Hardin Jr., who successfully
prosecuted a first-degree DWI murder conviction, thanked law enforcement
officers and public officials for doing all they can to keep drunk drivers off
the highways.
"While not every drunken-driving fatality constitutes first-degree murder,
every time an impaired driver gets behind the wheel, motorists are at risk,"
Hardin said. "We all need to recognize our roles and take responsibility for
stopping drunk driving. The recent first-degree murder DWI verdicts in North
Carolina send a strong message that drunk driving will not be tolerated."
Joe Parker, director of the Governor's Highway Safety Program (GHSP), said
North Carolina is continuing the "Booze It & Lose It" campaign in an effort to
lower the number of impaired drivers on the highways, saving lives and
health-care costs. "Booze It & Lose It" works, he said. A study showed the
campaign cut in half the number of intoxicated drivers found at checkpoints
and helped reduce alcohol-related fatalities in North Carolina.
Since the start of the Governor's Highway Safety Initiative in 1993, law
officers statewide have conducted 25,000 checkpoints and charged 42,000 with
driving while impaired.
"We know this program saves lives, that's why we're continuing up our
efforts," Parker said. "Law enforcement agencies and communities are working
together in unprecedented cooperation. Last year, far too many people died on
North Carolina highways. We know we can save countless lives and prevent
injuries with this massive effort."
For information regarding the sobriety checkpoints in Asheville,
Charlotte, Fayetteville, Greensboro, Greenville, and Wilmington this weekend,
contact the GHSP at 919-733-3083.
For an on-line version of the most recent news releases from the GHSP,
visit our web site at http://www.dot.state.nc.us/services/ghsp/ghspnews.htm.