December 18, 2003

Starting tomorrow, more than 500 Michigan law enforcement agencies will take part in a statewide, coordinated crackdown to combat drunk driving and prevent holiday traffic deaths. The Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning (OHSP) believes that type of high visibility enforcement has contributed to recent dramatic improvements in holiday traffic fatalities.

During last year’s Christmas and New Years holidays, 705 people died on the nation’s roads, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The number of traffic fatalities in Michigan during the same period? Four. And none of these deaths were alcohol-related.

"We believe that increased presence and vigilant enforcement is central to making Michigan highways safe during the holidays," said Colonel Tadarial J. Sturdivant, director of the Michigan State Police.

This year’s enforcement mobilization comes under the new, tougher drunk driving law that took effect Sept. 30.  The new law lowers the limit at which a motorist is considered a drunk driver. 

You Drink & Drive. You Lose. is a national drunk driving mobilization that begins Dec. 19 and runs through Jan. 4, 2004.

"Driving drunk is not an accident nor is it a victimless crime," said Colonel Sturdivant. "Law enforcement will be on the alert this holiday season, finding and arresting drunk drivers in Michigan."

Michigan was the 44^th state to adopt a .08 blood alcohol content (BAC) standard for drunk driving offenses. NHTSA estimates the country would save 400-600 lives each year if all states adopted .08 laws.

According to the NHTSA, laboratory and on-road research shows that the vast majority of drivers are significantly impaired at .08 with regard to critical driving tasks such as braking, steering, lane changing, judgment and divided attention. Prior to the change in the law, .08 BAC was considered impaired driving in Michigan.

Studies show that motorists are more likely to drive sober when patrols are combined with highly visible public awareness efforts, according to NHTSA.

OHSP is coordinating the mobilization, providing federal traffic safety funds to boost patrols in selected areas and funding paid advertising to ensure widespread awareness of the program. In the current fiscal year, OHSP will provide nearly $2 million in federal money to law enforcement agencies for overtime patrols and another $1.5 million in paid advertising during mobilization periods.

Twenty counties are receiving federal traffic safety funding for overtime patrols for this mobilization including: Bay, Berrien, Calhoun, Delta, Ingham, Genesee, Grand Traverse, Jackson, Kalamazoo, Kent, Livingston, Macomb, Monroe, Muskegon, Oakland, Ottawa, Saginaw, St. Clair, Washtenaw and Wayne counties.

In spite of the progress that has been made to reduce drunk driving, nearly 35 percent of all traffic fatalities in Michigan still involve alcohol and/or drugs. Last year, 422 people died and 9,414 were injured in alcohol-related crashes on Michigan roadways. Nearly 58,000 people were arrested for alcohol-related driving offenses in 2002. During the last national drunk-driving crackdown in December 2002, Michigan law enforcement officers arrested more than 2,700 motorists for alcohol-related offenses.

Those convicted for a first drunk driving offense face:

• Up to 93 days in jail
• Up to a $500 fine
• Up to 360 hours of community service
• Up to 6 points on a driver’s license
• Up to 180 days’ license suspension.

In addition, convicted drunk drivers will be subject to a new $1,000 fee for two consecutive years, for a total of $2,000 in additional costs. Anyone who refuses a breath test the first time is given an automatic one-year driver’s license suspension.

For a complete listing of departments participating in the mobilization, visit OHSP’s website at www.michigan.gov/ohsp.