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FreeRepublic , LLC PO BOX 9771 FRESNO, CA 93794
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Posted on 07/09/2003 2:36:49 PM PDT by chance33_98
'Booze It & Lose It' Yields 1,137 DWI Arrests in Second Week; Lawler Family to Recall Kill Devil Hills Tragedy at Outer Banks Event
7/9/03 5:00:00 PM
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To: Assignment Desk, Daybook Editor
Contact: Jill Warren Lucas of the Governor's Highway Safety Program, 919-733-3083, (cell: 919-291-6729), jwlucas@dot.state.nc.us
News Advisory:
What:
"Booze It & Lose It" Press Event
When:
10:30 a.m. Thursday, July 10
Where:
Wright Brothers National Memorial, Kill Devil Hills
A Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer's patrol car was damaged in a hit-and-run crash caused by an impaired driver following a "Booze It & Lose It" enforcement event.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg officer's new, unmarked patrol car was struck minutes after a July 4 drunken driving checkpoint with one of the state's breath-alcohol testing mobile units, better known as BATMobiles, had ended. A female driver hit his vehicle and fled the scene but was soon apprehended. Her breath-alcohol content (BAC) measured .12. She was arrested for DWI, hit and run, and no operator's license. No one was injured.
Statewide, law enforcement officers arrested a total of 1,137 motorists for driving while impaired (DWI) during the second week of the summer "Booze It & Lose It" campaign. That includes 115 impaired drivers under the legal drinking age of 21. Since the campaign began on June 26, a total of 1,907 DWI arrests have been made.
The Week 2 arrests are a result of 1,994 checkpoints and stepped-up patrols conducted statewide between June 30-July 6. Counties with the highest number of DWI citations include Wake (96), Cumberland (80), Mecklenburg (46).
In addition to cracking down on impaired drivers, officers last week issued 3,920 seat belt and 619 child passenger safety violations. They discovered a total of 32,310 traffic and criminal violations, including 366 drug charges, 36 firearm violations, and 24 fugitives from justice. They also recovered 18 stolen vehicles.
A final "Booze It & Lose It" press event will be held at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills. Nags Head, Kill Devil Hills and Kitty Hawk are ranked Nos. 1-2-3 for their high rates of DWI incidents in North Carolina cities with populations of less than 10,000.
Speakers will include GHSP Acting Director Don Nail, Kitty Hawk Police Chief Bob Morris, and Erin and Jessica Lawler of Kill Devil Hills. Their 17-year-old sister Shana was one of four teens killed in the infamous April 1999 Kills Devil Hills crash. In case of inclement weather, the event will be held at Kill Devil Hills Town Council, Colington Road. BATMobile checkpoints will follow that evening in Nags Head and Kill Devil Hills.
"Booze It & Lose It" continues through Sunday, July 13. See Statewide Citation Report below. A final statewide tally will be released on July 16.
STATEWIDE TOTALS
Total Checkpoints and Patrols June 23-29........1,014 June 30-July 6....1,994
DWI -- Driving While Impaired Violations
June 23-29..........770 June 30-July 6....1,137 TOTAL.............1,907
Occupant Restraint
-- Seat Belt Violations June 23-29........2,549 June 30-July 6....3,920 TOTAL.............6,469
-- Child Passenger Safety Violations June 23-29..........346 June 30-July 6......619 TOTAL...............965
Traffic Violations
-- Speeding June 23-29........6,013 June 30-July 6...11,188 TOTAL............17,201
-- Total Traffic Violations June 23-29.......17,547 June 30-July 6...31,123 TOTAL............48,670
Criminal Violations
-- Drug Violations June 23-29..........276 June 30-July 6......366 TOTAL...............642
-- Firearm Violations June 23-29...........14 June 30-July 6.......36 TOTAL................50
-- Stolen Vehicles Recovered (note) June 23-29...........10 June 30-July 6.......18 TOTAL................28
-- Fugitives Arrested (note) June 23-29...........13 June 30-July 6.......24 TOTAL................37
-- Other Criminal Violations Not Listed June 23-29..........325 June 30-July 6......785 TOTAL.............1,110
-- Total Criminal Violations June 23-29..........615 June 30-July 6....1,187 TOTAL.............1,802
Total Traffic & Criminal Violations
June 23-29.......18,162 June 30-July 6...32,310 TOTAL............50,472
Note: These columns are not counted into overall total of violations.
-- BATMobile checkpoints are scheduled for Thursday in Kill Devil Hills, Nags Head, Greenville, Goldsboro and Fayetteville. Friday's events are planned for Rocky Mount, Wilmington, Graham, Elizabeth City and Red Springs. Checkpoints are planned for Saturday in Wilson, Leland, Greensboro, Ahoskie and Shelby.
-- Call local law enforcement agencies to learn more about their "Booze It & Lose It" activities.
For a schedule of "Booze It & Lose It" BATMobile checkpoints, or for a list of the DWI rankings by city, call GHSP Public Information Officer Jill Warren Lucas at 919-733-3083 (cell: 919-291-6729), or visit GHSP's Web site at: http://www.ncdot.org/secretary/ghsp
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FreeRepublic , LLC PO BOX 9771 FRESNO, CA 93794
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It is in the breaking news sidebar! |
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Could some vocal zealot of the Libertine/Libertarian Party tell the rest of us if he/she is for this policy of "Prior Restraint" regarding drunk driving. For isn't the driver tooling around town drunk doing so in the privacy of his own automobile? Also, coining a pet phrase of the Libertine/Libertarian Party, (original: "I can swing my fists as much as I like, but my rights to do so ends at your nose.") "I can drive around drunk as much as I like, but my rights to do so ends at your car's bumper."
I see Giddy's plan for instant funds is in full effect. Thanks Giddy!!
I do have a problem with perfectly well functioning drivers being pulled over, searched (in violation of their constitutional rights), and ticket for nanny-state seatbelt violations.
Kiss a jackboot today.
Since there are no stopped female drunk drivers in the commercial running in my area, perhaps she didn't believe the campaign was meant for females....
They want to remove the rights of others over their own business and property, if we want to do the same to them they get bent out of shape. They want to set up check points, it's their roads, bar owner wants to allow smoking, it's their bar. When the government learns to give us what they themselves expect maybe then people will have less of a problem with it.
In California they are called "Sobriety Checkpoints." The policy is that there is a big lighted sign that says there is one ahead and there must be at least two opportunities to turn off the street before reaching the checkpoint. The catch here is that there or motorcycle cops stationed at these "turn off streets" and if you aren't wearing your seatbelt or you have a signal/brake light out or anything like that, they stop you for that, then they ask for your liscense and registration and proof of insurance - then they ask you if you've been drinking...
In the article above, they posted the dates and places of the checkpoints comming up and gave a phone number to check to make sure. I'd say if I were going to go drinking and driving I would deserve it if I got into one of those.
Uh huh. And how many do they normally arrest?
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