Increased DUI Patrols Planned for McCurtain County

Oklahoma Department of Public Safety sent this bulletin at 08/30/2018 01:05 PM CDT

Increased DUI Patrols Planned for McCurtain County

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol, along with the McCurtain County Sheriff's Office, Broken Bow and Idabel Police Departments, and the Oklahoma State Park Rangers will team up to increase patrols in McCurtain county this Saturday.

Numerous officers, deputies and troopers will be on the roads doing high-visibility patrols to deter and catch impaired drivers. This special emphasis comes as the national "Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over" campaign comes to an end after Labor Day.

According to data from the Oklahoma Highway Safety Office, the 2017 Labor Day holiday period had 155 injury crashes. In four of those crashes, four people were killed in Oklahoma.

There is absolutely no reason for impaired driving collisions to happen. If you are drinking, have a plan to get home safe.

These high-visibility patrols have been shown to be effective in decreasing the number and severity of crashes in an area. That's why law enforcement will be out making sure everyone gets home safe this Labor Day weekend.

FOR RELEASE

August 30, 2018

MEDIA CONTACT

Trooper BJ Keeling
BJ.Keeling@dps.ok.gov
(580) 579-5625

In 2017, 656 people were killed in crashes in Oklahoma; almost half of those (324) were killed in drug/alcohol-related crashes. This is up from 43 percent killed in drug/alcohol-related crashes in 2016 in Oklahoma.

For an interactive look at all of the crashes in Oklahoma during 2016, visit, https://arcg.is/18H8mO.

Everyone is highly encouraged to find a safe ride by calling a sober driver, using a cab, Uber, Lyft or any other ride-share service. Better yet, have a designated driver. Have fun and enjoy life, but do not, under any circumstances, drive while impaired by alcohol or any other substance. The cost is too high. Let’s ENDUI.

The media is invited to attend this checkpoint to help us raise awareness about the impaired driving problem in Oklahoma. Interviews with members of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol will be available. To coordinate times, locations, and interviews, please email BJ.Keeling@dps.ok.gov.

The ENDUI enforcement team coordinates multi-jurisdictional events on a regular basis, including sobriety checkpoints and saturation patrols. These efforts are needed to impact Oklahoma’s impaired driving problem across the state. The locations of these activities are driven by data from the Oklahoma Highway Safety Office and by local request.

Pictured (from left to right) is McCurtain County Sheriff Kevin Clardy, Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper BJ Keeling, and Idabel Chief of Police John Martin.

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ENDUI Oklahoma is a program of the Oklahoma Highway Safety Office and is funded through impaired driving grants from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

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