LAFAYETTE, La — New Year's Eve is a time for family, friends, parties and good times. But the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission wants you to do it responsibly.
Law enforcement agents across the state will pull over impaired drivers and put them in jail during the Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over enforcement campaign.
During the 2018 New Year's Eve holiday period, two people were killed and 74 were injured in alcohol-related crashes on Louisiana roads, according to the Center for Analytics and Research in Transportation at LSU. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that 285 people were killed across the country in alcohol-related crashes during the combined Christmas and New Year's holidays last year.
The Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign also is targeting drivers who are on drugs that can affect their judgment, motor skills and mental alertness, said executive director of the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission Lisa Freeman.
"Even prescribed medication can affect how you drive, so do not get behind the wheel until you know how your medications affect you, and always follow label warnings," Freeman said.
The purpose of Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over is to increase the negative consequences of impaired driving through enforcement action. The campaign is a safety tool, not an empty threat, Freeman explained. "When law enforcement pulls an impaired driver off the road, that's a step toward keeping everyone else safe," she said. "There will be no 'just a warning' roadside stops. Impaired drivers that are caught will go to jail."
