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Getting Arrested Could Be The Least of Your Worries

By MoDOT

 

Missouri law enforcement reminds motorists to Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over.

 

JEFFERSON CITY – Labor Day weekend brings a surge of travel across the nation. During the summer’s last holiday many will make the conscious mistake of driving impaired, – and we’re not just talking about alcohol. A person can also be arrested for driving under the influence of illegal drugs such as cocaine, marijuana, other controlled substances, or even prescription medication.

Getting arrested could be the least of your worries. A substance- impaired driving arrest could cost you thousands of dollars in fines, court costs and lawyer fees, not to mention you could also lose your license, lose your job, or worse yet – take someone’s life!

This year’s Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over high-visibility crackdown will run Aug. 14 through the Labor Day holiday on Sept. 7.

“Impaired driving continues to be a huge concern on Missouri roadways,” said Colonel Bret Johnson, superintendent of the Missouri State Highway Patrol. “We will continue our year round efforts of enforcing Missouri’s DWI laws and through this campaign create public awareness to the dangers substance-impaired driving causes on our highways.”

Statewide, law enforcement made 314 DWI arrests, 27 DUI drug arrests, 11 drug influence arrests and 127 MIP’s during this campaign in 2014.

National Highway Transportation Safety Administration data shows that drivers respond well to this type of high visibility enforcement. Past campaigns have resulted in a 20 percent decrease in substance-impaired crash fatalities. On average, one person will die every 34 minutes in an impaired driving crash over the Labor Day period, that’s a lot of lives that could be saved.

“Each day lives are drastically changed or lost in preventable traffic crashes caused by substance-impaired driving,” said Bill Whitfield, executive chair to the Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety. “In 2014, 197 people were killed, 703 seriously injured in Missouri crashes that involved at least one substance-impaired driver”

We are all a part of the solution. To learn more about substance-impaired driving and how you can Arrive Alive, visitsaveMOlives.com, or follow social media at Save MO Lives, #DriveSoberMO.

 

For more information, contact Marcus Holmes at 573-751-5408, or Kelly Jackson at 573-645-9353.