Washington County Undersheriff John Winchell announced today that the Washington County Sheriff’s Office will participate in a special enforcement effort to crackdown on impaired driving.
While we spend this Holiday Season celebrating with friends and family and looking forward to the blessings of a New Year, the Sheriff’s Office along with the law enforcement community across New York State will take to the roads in an effort to stop impaired driving, prevent injuries and save lives. The statewide STOP-DWI Crackdown efforts start on December 16th and will end on January 2nd. The Washington County Sheriff’s Office along with municipal law enforcement agencies across the state will be out in force.
Research shows that high-visibility enforcement can reduce drunk driving fatalities by as much as 20 percent. Sobriety checkpoints play a key part in raising awareness about the problem.
While STOP-DWI efforts across New York have led to significant reductions in the numbers of alcohol and drug related fatalities, still too many lives are being lost because of crashes caused by drunk or impaired drivers.
So much for Happy Holidays - in December 2015 drunk driving crashes resulted in 840 deaths. Over a five year period that total is almost 4000 unnecessary and tragic deaths! Highly visible, highly publicized efforts like the STOP-DWI Crackdown Campaign aim to further reduce the incidence of drunk and impaired driving.
The STOP-DWI Holiday Season Crackdown is one of many statewide enforcement initiatives promoted by the New York State STOP-DWI Association with additional funding from the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee and implemented by the STOP-DWI Foundation. In addition the Foundation has created a new Mobile App – “Have A Plan” that is available as a free download for smart phones to help find safe rides home no matter where you may be celebrating. Many thanks to the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee for their support of this new technology. Go to www.stopdwi.org/mobileapp or visit your app store.
We wish you and your family and friends a very safe and Happy Holiday season!