Each of the law enforcement departments in Logan County joined together Wednesday morning at Southview Park to unite for the common cause of combating impaired driving and improving public safety during the Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign that continues through Labor Day, Sept. 7.
The high-visibility enforcement campaign that officially kicked off Aug. 21 focuses on extra patrols day and night on local roadways to keep residents safe by removing impaired drivers and offering public safety reminders.
The extra patrols coincide with the end of summertime and continues through the Labor Day weekend, when many individuals hit the roadways to see family and friends for fun activities such as picnics and barbecues.
“We want everyone to be safe when they’re celebrating the holiday,” Trooper Tim Johnson of the Marysville Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol said Wednesday during the park gathering.
“During our patrols, we’ll be looking for some of the signs of impaired driving, such as marked lane violations or slow or inconsistent speeds, and sometimes speeding drivers as well.”
“We wanted to have this gathering today to show that we are stepping up our enforcement, and we are all joining together in our efforts,” retired Logan County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Jeff Anspach said.
Anspach, who now works as a law enforcement liasion for the Ohio Department of Public Safety, said the participation of all of the Logan County law enforcement agencies Wednesday spoke volumes about the importance of this campaign. Departments represented included troopers of the Marysville Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol, deputies from the Logan County Sheriff’s Office, and officers of the Bellefontaine, DeGraff, Russells Point, Washington Township and West Liberty police departments, along with the Bellefontaine Fire Department.
Law enforcement officers related that the Labor Day holiday reporting period also typically marks one of the deadliest times on U.S. roadways, with drunk drivers endangering themselves and others.
One person is killed about every 50 minutes in a drunk driving crash, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. During the Labor Day holiday weekend from 2014 to 2018, 44 percent of traffic deaths involved drivers who had been drinking and a total of 945 people died.
Just one drink before driving can put a motorist and others in danger, because alcohol impairs thinking, reasoning and muscle coordination.
“If you feel different, you drive different,” Retired Deputy Anspach said. “And impaired driving doesn’t just include driving drunk, but also includes being impaired by drugs or medication.”
Even a 0.02 blood alcohol concentration (BAC) starts to impair thinking, reasoning, and muscle coordination – all vital abilities to operating a vehicle safely, the NHTSA reports. It is illegal in all 50 states to drive with a BAC of 0.08 or higher.
At the 0.08 BAC level, individuals will experience reduced concentration, short-term memory loss, lack of speed control, reduced information processing capability and impaired perception.
Then at 0.10 BAC, they will have a reduced ability to maintain lane position and brake appropriately. At 0.15 BAC, the NHTSA reports drivers will experience substantial impairment in vehicle control, attention to driving tasks and in necessary visual and auditory information processing.
The NHTSA and local law enforcement encourage the following tips throughout the campaign and the rest of the year:
• Plan a safe and sober ride home before drinking alcohol.
• Don’t let someone get behind the wheel if that person has been drinking.
• If you’re hosting a party with alcohol, make sure everyone has a sober ride home.
• Always wear your seat belt, as it’s the best defense against drunk drivers.
• If you see a drunk driver, call 911.