Police are watching for drunk drivers this weekend

This is a nationwide traffic safety initiative among state highway patrols and state police agencies where troopers and officers across the United States and Canada work together during holiday periods to reduce the number of traffic deaths through high visibility patrols and education.

Lieutenent Kurt Boshart, with the Harrisonburg Police Department, says they are setting up saturation patrols.

One of the first drivers pulled over did not belong on the road, but not because they were impaired.

Trooper Henry said right now fatalities in our state and the national level are up compared to years in the past. “During the Labor Day weekend, Troopers will be on the lookout for impaired and risky drivers, and we are urging drivers to do their part by strictly obeying traffic laws and finding alternative transportation if they plan to drink”.

An Oxnard checkpoint Thursday night into Friday at Vineyard Avenue and Esplanade Drive netted only one arrest, but a total of 896 cars passed through the checkpoint, with more than half of those motorists stopped by officers, Brown said.

According to OHS, police will be out this Labor Day weekend cracking down on drunk driving. More than a quarter of those crashes involved drivers with a blood alcohol level twice the legal limit of 0.08 percent, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration officials said.

Don’t drink and drive – designate a driver or take a cab.

“I can not stress enough that we want you to enjoy time with your friends and families during this special summer holiday, but please don’t drink and drive”, Sheriff Robert Bryan said.