Extra Drunken Driving Patrols Planned Through New Year's Day
DETROIT (WWJ) - More than 100 law enforcement agencies in Michigan have begun a statewide drunk driving crackdown to keep impaired drivers off the road as 2013 begins.
Anne Readett, spokesperson for the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning, said extra officers will be targeting impaired drivers during the New Year's holiday period, which begins Friday.
"There are extra officers out in our populus counties across the state, they'll be at work in 22 counties with federal funding for extra patrols," she said.
Readett recommends anyone that plans to party on New Year's Eve designated a sober driver in advance or consider other options on how to get home safely from that party, such as taking a cab or spending the night.
"We're out with the usual warnings that we want people to be responsible and encourage them to, as they're making their New Year's plans, to plan for how they're getting home as well to make sure that it's a safe holiday," she said.
During last year's New Year's holiday period in Michigan, 14 people were killed in traffic crashes and five of those crashes involved alcohol.
Agencies in the following counties are participating in the drunk driving patrols: Allegan, Berrien, Calhoun, Chippewa, Delta, Genesee, Houghton, Ingham, Jackson, Kalamazoo, Kent, Macomb, Marquette, Monroe, Oakland, Ogemaw, Ottawa, Saginaw, St. Clair, Van Buren, Washtenaw and Wayne.
