(WWJ) -- To encourage sober driving before and during the Christmas and New Year's holidays, law enforcement officials throughout the state will be participating in the "drive sober or get pulled over" campaign.
There will be increased patrols on the roads between Dec. 17 through Jan. 1, with zero tolerance for those who drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
From 2016 to 2020, during the holiday period, 84 people were killed in traffic crashes in Michigan, including 34 people who died in alcohol-involved crashes.
During the 2020 holiday period, 15 people lost their lives in crashed on Michigan roads.
“Getting behind the wheel of a vehicle after you’ve been drinking or taken drugs endangers you, your passengers and everyone else on the road,” said Michael L. Prince, Office of Highway Safety Planning (OHSP) director. “Fatalities on our roadways are preventable, and drivers must remember that driving impaired by any substance is deadly, illegal and selfish behavior.”
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According to the OHSP, there were 9,078 alcohol-involved crashes in Michigan with 326 alcohol-involved fatalities statewide in 2020.
To remember those who were killed due to impaired driving -- and to remind drivers that they have a responsibility to prevent impaired driving deaths and injuries -- December has been proclaimed as National Impaired Driving Prevention Month by President Joe Biden.
According to the 2019 Michigan Annual Drunk Driving Audit by the MSP, about 42% of all fatal crashes that occurred involved alcohol, drugs or both.
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The National Association of Drug Court Professionals recognized December as one of the most dangerous months because of this increase in impaired driving.
The “drive sober or get pulled over” campaign is supported with federal traffic safety funds provided by the U.S. Department of Transportation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and coordinated by the OHSP.