RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Virginia’s ‘Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over‘ DUI enforcement and public education campaign will ramp up patrolling and sobriety checkpoints across Virginia during the holiday season, with the hopes of keeping drivers, passengers and pedestrians safe.
Between Thanksgiving of 2022 and New Year’s Day in 2023, campaign leaders said 432 Virginians were injured and 23 Virginians lost their lives because of alcohol-related crashes, representing a 77% increase in alcohol-related crash fatalities from the previous holiday season.
Leaders of the campaign said it is particularly concerned with reaching men between the ages of 21 and 35, who are statistically at the highest risk for drunk driving. During the 2022 holiday season, 91% of alcohol-related crash fatalities were men.
Between Dec. 14, 2023, and Jan. 1, 2024, 145 Virginia law enforcement agencies will participate in the holiday wave of the campaign. Law enforcement officers will conduct 646 “individual saturation patrols” and 71 sobriety checkpoints across the state.
Virginia Beach Police and the city’s Sheriff’s Office told WAVY they will be doing their part. They will be out in force, at DUI checkpoints and holiday events, like the “Last Night on the Town Center” happening New Year’s weekend.
Drivers need to do their part to keep themselves and others safe.
“Staying safe, not driving impaired … using the appropriate resources you have available to you to get home safe. If you do happen to drink to excess make sure you are using a ride share program or having friends or family come get you to make sure you are not putting yourself behind the wheel while impaired,” said VBPD officer C.M. Wilson.
In addition, Virginia State Police personnel will work through the holiday as part of Operation CARE – the Crash Awareness Reduction Effort, which aims to reduce traffic crashes, fatalities and injuries caused by impaired driving, speeding and failing to use seatbelts.
State Police will participate in the program from Friday, Dec. 22, 2023 through Monday, Jan. 1, 2024.