Jul 4, 2009 1:26 pm US/Eastern
Police Crackdown On DWIs Over Holiday Weekend
TARRYTOWN, N.Y. (CBS) ―
The holiday weekend is a busy time for police in our area. Officers will be out on the roads, making sure people think twice before drinking and driving.
"Fourth of July, the barbecues start in the afternoon so people drink a lot longer, going on through to the fireworks shows," said Sgt. Michael Brancamp of the Westchester County Police.
The drinking starts early and so does the enforcement.
Westchester already has extra patrols on the road looking for drivers putting themselves and others in danger.
"There's so many people out there driving, you might be the responsible one, but you have to be careful for the guy who's next to you, who might not be the responsible one," Brancamp said.
In addition to patrols, county police will have DWI checkpoints. Hundreds of drivers can expect to be stopped.
The holiday weekend enforcement is part of an ongoing and very aggressive county effort to get drunk drivers off the road.
Five years ago, Westchester County police arrested 262 drivers for DWI.
Last year they busted 588, a 125-percent increase.
This weekend, virtually every area police agency will also be out in force looking for drunk and dangerous drivers.
"Were going to be out there looking for speeders, aggressive drivers, and trying to keep the roads safe for everybody out there doing the right thing," said Sgt. John Maasz, of the New York State Police.
And remember, you don't have to register a 0.08 to get in trouble. A blood alcohol concentration as low as 0.06 could get you a ticket for driving with ability impaired.
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