Labor Day Drunk Driving Campaign Underway

Labor Day is a favored holiday for many as it is often the last long weekend holiday of the summer. Whether you are on the road, on the water, or simply celebrating from your backyard, the attorneys at Clore Law Group encourage you to be safe this holiday, drink responsibly, and not to drink and drive. To combat drunk driving across the country, the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has partnered with the South Carolina Department of Safety and law enforcement agencies across the state in launching its Sober or Slammer initiative as part of the national Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign to stop drunk driving and drunk driving related accidents and deaths.

National Drunk Driving Statistics

The NHTSA said in its campaign announcement that on average, someone dies every 51 minutes in a drunk driving crash, equaling about 10,000 fatalities each year. Sadly, about 35 percent of these fatalities are not the drunk driver, but instead, they are passengers and pedestrians.

South Carolina Drunk Driving Statistics

According to the South Carolina Department of Public Safety, 437 people have died so far this year on our highways, with 141 of these fatalities occurring just since Labor Day. Alcohol was a factor in 40 percent of these deaths. Unfortunately, in 2012, crashes involving alcohol took the lives of 348 people. According to SCHP Col. Mike Oliver, "One person sustains an injury every two hours and on average, someone in South Carolina dies every day as the result of an impaired driving traffic crash."

South Carolina Labor Day Drunk Driving Campaign

This year, at least 10,000 law enforcement officers will be actively patrolling and checking for drunk drivers across the country during the campaign period of August 15 through September 1. In South Carolina, increased DUI enforcement will be seen during the campaign coupled with increased public awareness. The South Carolina Department of Transportation is using message boards announcing the drunk driving campaign, as well as TV and radio commercials, and warnings on gas pump handles, box trucks, and ice boxes. Last year, more than 27,000 people were arrested in South Carolina for drunk driving. Drunk driving is not only devastating in the number of lives that it takes each year, but the economic costs of DWI are incredibly high. According to the NHTSA, drunk driving costs the country about $47 billion in "direct economic impacts," and when the "overall harm to society due to loss of life and quality of life" was factored in the costs jumped to $195 billion annually. David Friedman, the NHTSA Acting Administrator, said in the announcement that "The costs of drunk driving - in lives and economic harm - are far too high for anyone to ever get behind the wheel after they've been drinking." The attorneys at Clore Law Group encourage all drivers to consider the risks of drinking and driving before they begin their holiday celebrations. We want everyone to do their part to prevent drunk driving during the Labor Day holiday.