The State Patrol and other law enforcement agencies on the North Olympic Peninsula plan to step up their patrols for drunk or impaired drivers starting Wednesday.
The emphasis patrols will continue through September’s Labor Day weekend, which historically has the highest number of drunk drivers and fatal crashes of any other weekend of the year.
The extra patrols are expected to be obvious and visible.
“We’re trying to have a lot of visibility out there and let people know we’re doing this for a number of weeks,” said Jim Borte, who heads the DUI Task Force for the Clallam County Sheriff’s Department.
“We encourage the public, if you see someone driving erratically, dial 9-1-1, give a description, a location and what you saw.”
The Clallam County Sheriff’s Department, Port Angeles Police Department and the Sequim Police Department each have been given $7,000 to pay participating officers overtime for their participation.
The emphasis patrols are part of the “Drive Hammered – Get Nailed” campaign by the Traffic Safety Commission.
Another emphasis patrol is typically funded during the winter holidays.
“We always do a summer campaign. Part of that is because August is the deadliest month on our roadways, and Labor Day is the deadliest weekend of the year,” said Julie Furlong, a spokesperson with the Traffic Safety Commission.
The commission tracks drunken driving statistics as well as DUI arrests.
Last year, 3,350 crashes in the state involved drivers who had been drinking. Of those, 229 were fatal.
In the last 10 years, the statewide annual number of deaths attributed to drivers who had been drinking alcohol has varied from 214 deaths in 2005 to a high of 286 in 1998.
Nationwide, the number of traffic fatalities that involved alcohol ranged between 16,572 in 1999 to 17,749 in 1996, but were always about 40 percent of all traffic fatalities in the country, according to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Borte said the publicity of the emphasis patrols, and the visibility of the extra officers, often proves to be an effective deterrent.
But there are others who may not pay attention, Borte said.
“People who keep drinking and driving are people who have a problem with alcohol and their drinking,” Borte said.
