National Labor Day enforcement campaign runs through Sept. 4

WASHINGTON – The U.S. DOT’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is urging U.S. motorists to Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over.  To spread this urgent safety message, NHTSA’s annual Labor Day campaign runs through Sept. 4, with nationwide advertisements and the full support of law enforcement agencies across the country.

In 2015, 460 people died in drunk driving crashes over the Labor Day holiday period and 33 percent of those deaths involved drunk drivers. Nighttime is the most dangerous time to be out on the roads, 78 percent of the 153 drunk driving fatalities occurred between 6 p.m. and 5:59 a.m.

Drunk driving is a dangerous epidemic on U.S. roads and is 100 percent preventable. It is against the law in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico to drive a vehicle if you have a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or higher.

This Labor Day, law enforcement will be on patrol to protect the public and will make no exceptions for motorists caught driving drunk. There are no excuses. The most effective way to stop drunk driving is to prevent it from happening in the first place.

NHTSA urges motorists to take the following precautions or face the consequences of breaking the law: 

• Plan ahead and designate a sober driver

• Use public transportation, taxi, ride share service, or your community’s sober ride program to get home safely.

• Download NHTSA’s SaferRide mobile app available on Google Play for Android devices and Apple’s iTunes Store for IOS devices. SaferRide allows users to call a taxi or a predetermined friend, and identifies the user’s location so he or she can be picked up.

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

View NHTSA's 2015 Alcohol-Impaired Driving Traffic Safety Fact Sheet

View NHTSA'S 2015 State Alcohol-Impaired Driving Estimates Fact Sheet

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