Examples of specific state enforcement and public information efforts are listed below. State drunk driving laws and additional resources about this issue are available on the GHSA Drunk Driving Laws page. For information on the national campaign, visit www.stopimpaireddriving.org.
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Alaska—Alaska’s Drunk Driving. Over The Limit. Under Arrest DUI holiday crackdown enforcement runs from Dec. 1 - 31. Media ads are running on both adio and television. Law enforcement agencies across the state will be out in force and cracking down on impaired drivers.
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Arizona-Arizona's 17 DUI Task Forces will be aggressively removing impaired drivers during its annual Holiday DUI Crackdown from Thanksgiving weekend through New Year's Day. Last year, the Task Forces arrested 2,683 people for DUI. Additionally, the Governor's Office of Highway Safety and the Arizona DUI Task Forces will again be distributing its These Lights Will Silent Your Night blinking ice cubes. The campaign includes 50,000 plastic red and blue blinking ice cubes distributed at bars and holiday parties with the message: "You don't want to see these red and blue lights in your rearview mirror, so if you've had too much to drink, talk to your server or host about getting a safe and sober ride home." TV, radio and Internet ads accompany the campaign, along with the website www.blinkingice.com.
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Arkansas—Law enforcement agencies across the state are gearing up to provide extra protection for travelers on the roadways this holiday season. At a news conference on Dec. 18 Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel will join State Police Director and Governor’s Highway Safety Representative Colonel Winford Phillips and Arkansas MADD Director Teresa Belew in announcing a statewide initiative to join the national law enforcement and media campaign, Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest. The state initiative will focus on the weekends before the Christmas and New Year holidays, Dec. 21 - 22 and Dec. 28 - 29.
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California—In California, holiday DUI enforcement mobilizations start at Thanksgiving and run through New Year’s. Starting Dec. 14, more than 475 police and sheriff’s departments and CHP area offices will mobilize all available officers for increased regular patrols, checkpoints and saturation patrols. $4 million in California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) grants will be used by 103 law enforcement agencies for holiday checkpoints. OTS is funding installation of 750 permanent signs with the “Report Drunk Drivers – Call 911” message every forty miles along all county and state roads. California’s Department of Transportation is using its 325 permanent changeable message signs to display “Report Drunk Drivers – Call 911” and “Click It or Ticket” messages across all state freeways. The Department of Motor Vehicles will feature "Report Drunk Drivers. Call 911" messaging in all of their field offices. The Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control will be out in force to fight alcohol sales to those obviously intoxicated or underage.
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Colorado—In Colorado, more than 70 law enforcement agencies will participate in the Heat Is On DUI enforcement over Office Party Weekend, Dec. 14-17. Two news conferences will be held in Denver and Colorado Springs on Dec. 13. The Colorado Department of Transportation is partnering with downtown Denver businesses and cab companies to donate taxi cab vouchers to encourage safe choices. The statewide emphasis is on raising awareness of DUI enforcement and reminding party-goers to plan ahead. A second DUI enforcement wave is set for Dec. 28-Jan 2.
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Connecticut—Connecticut is conducting a comprehensive traffic safety media campaign including television radio spots, billboards and bus panels. This campaign will supplement the national media buy. Two Connecticut-specific television commercials will broadcast, one featuring Governor M. Jodi Rell. Public service announcements and an impaired driving fact sheet were sent to all Connecticut media outlets. Governor Rell has designated December 2007 as Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month in Connecticut and has generated an official proclamation to mark this campaign. The Connecticut Department of Transportation has awarded 90 Comprehensive DUI enforcement grants to state and local law enforcement agencies for the 2007 holiday travel period. Included in this effort are saturation DUI patrols and 76 planned DUI checkpoints throughout the state.
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Delaware—Delaware’s enforcement plan runs from Dec. 10 - Jan. 2 and includes 13 scheduled checkpoints and 172 roving patrols. Thirty police agencies are conducting the patrols, and 31 agencies are involved in the sobriety checkpoint activities. Activities are focused from 8:00 p.m. Fridays through 4:00 a.m. Sundays to coincide with the crash data trends. In addition, there will be two “dedicated” checkpoints, honoring victims of impaired driving crashes. Drug Recognition Expert officers will be available at checkpoints and for call-out during the holiday period.
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Florida—Florida will hold a media event at the State Capitol on Dec. 17, with Over the Limit, Under Arrest as the primary message. Individuals from the state Department of Transportation, the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, the Department of Law Enforcement, Commercial Motor Vehicle Enforcement, the Florida Highway Patrol, local law enforcement agencies, MADD and NHTSA Region IV have been invited as speakers. The Law Enforcement Liaisons (LELs) will be working with law enforcement during this effort. Law enforcement agencies across Florida will be conducting both DUI checkpoints and saturation patrols from Dec. 17 until Jan. 1. Local press events will be conducted in Miami, St. Petersburg and Tampa.
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Georgia—Hundreds of Georgia traffic safety officers are busy planning for the Over The Limit. Under Arrest DUI campaign to keep families safe on the highways over the Christmas and New Year’s holiday travel period. Activites include high visibility DUI road checks and concentrated patrols during Georgia’s Operation Zero Tolerance.GOHS Deputy Director Spencer Moore will conduct the statewide Christmas holiday campaign kickoff from Savannah. This year’s media event will include MADD-Georgia and Miss International 2007, Whitney Kudela, whose platform is based on drunk driving awareness. News conferences like the kickoff in Savannah will be repeated across the state.
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Hawaii—All police departments are implementing sobriety checkpoints during the holiday period. Hawaii is also releasing a Drunk Driving, Over the Limit, Under Arrest DUI media campaign for both radio and television.
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Idaho—Forty-three law enforcement agencies are participating in Idaho’s Drunk Driving, Over the Limit, Under Arrestcampaign from Dec. 17 through Jan. 2. The statewide emphasis is on keeping families safe on the highways by: raising awareness of DUI enforcement; and reminding people to plan ahead if they are going to drink and always wear their seat belts. Media coverage includes radio and television ads and billboards placed throughout the state. Bar coasters (featuring DUI and seat belt messages) were distributed by our regional law enforcement liaisons.
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Illinois—This holiday season, the Illinois Department of Transportation/Division of Traffic Safety is planning an enforcement crackdown with approximately 170 state and local law enforcement agencies across Illinois. Law enforcement agencies will conduct hundreds of roadside safety checks and impaired driving saturation patrols from Dec. 14 through Jan. 1. Kickoff media events will take place Dec. 19 in Chicago, Springfield and Belleville. A statewide media buy will will place anti-impaired driving spots on radio, TV and mobile billboards. The media campaign runs from Dec. 17 - Jan. 1 and focuses on 18-34 year-old males (African-American, Hispanic and rural). Additionally, on Dec. 27, the Division of Traffic Safety will hold a news event in Chicago, unveiling a new community-based, Hispanic impaired driving initiative.
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Indiana—Indiana law enforcement will be cracking down on drunk drivers Dec. 1-31. A highlight of state activites will be Lights on For Life/Holiday Lifesaver Weekend Dec. 18-21. Lights on For Life is a symbolic headlight observance to focus attention on the impaired driving issue. SADD chapters and other groups (Indiana MADD, ICJI, and Indiana law enforcement) will encourage drivers to drive with their headlights on throughout the day to recognize those who have been killed or injured by impaired drivers and remind the public that alcohol and drug-related crashes are preventable.
During National Holiday Lifesavers Weekend, law enforcement agencies stage a three-day crackdown on impaired drivers, using sobriety checkpoints and saturation patrols. Indiana's holiday drunk driving campaign also include media events and educational events in schools.
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Kansas—Kansas is issuing a press release and running radio spots in the Topeka area. State highway protral and many local law enforcement agencies are stepping up enforcement. The Kansas Bureau of Traffic Safety will also be sponsoring a Wichita State basketball game, with extra messaging at the arena and on the radio during the game.
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Kentucky—Law enforcement agencies across the state will conduct traffic safety checkpoints and additional traffic patrol enforcement efforts for the holiday season. Multiple messaging PSAs will air on radio, with a particular emphasis on impaired driving. Department of Transportation Safety personnel will provide on-camera interviews, and the Department will distribute a press release with the theme Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving.
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Louisiana—The Louisiana Highway Safety Commission will hold press events in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lake Charles
and Shreveport, detailing the state's effort to stop drunk driving. Speakers include the Superintendent of State Police, the head
of the Sheriff's Association, the head of the Municipal Police Officer's
Association, Louisiana MADD Executive Director and the Governor's Representative. The press
event will feature a demonstration of how an alcohol interlock device operates. Louisiana law enforcement will conduct 100 sobriety checkpoints
throughout our state between Dec. 15 and New Year's Day.
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Maryland—On Dec. 5, Lieutenant Governor Anthony Brown hosted the annual Maryland Remembers memorial event in Annapolis. More than 800 guests, including families of impaired driving victims, were invited to this unique program, presented by the Maryland Highway Safety Office, the Washington Regional Alcohol Program and MADD. The ceremony serves as the culminating event of a year-long commitment to impaired driving prevention efforts, honoring victims of impaired driving crashes. It is also used as to increase awareness of the consequences of impaired driving and the commitment by law enforcement statewide to remove drunk drivers from Maryland roadways.
Throughout the holiday season, Maryland will participate in NHTSA Region III's Checkpoint Strikeforce campaign, providing radio advertising, television PSAs and outdoor advertising in the Baltimore and D.C. metro areas. Maryland's enforcement efforts include sobriety checkpoints and increased saturation patrols, and the state will also fund alternative transportation programs in both Washington, D.C. and Baltimore.
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Massachusetts—With up to $1.1 million in federal grant funding, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security will support a Holiday Season Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest. mobilization from Dec. 12 - Jan. 2. This statewide mobilization will involve additional state and local police traffic enforcement focused on apprehending impaired drivers, paid and earned media to spotlight this extra enforcement as well as the dangers of drunk driving, and supportive community-level liquor law/underage drinking education and enforcement efforts. The mobilization enforcement will involve saturation patrols as well as up to nine sobriety checkpoints, lead by the state police and featuring their Breath Alcohol Testing (BAT) Mobile.
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Michigan—Michigan's Office of Highway Safety Planning (OHSP) is gearing up for its Over the Limit. Under Arrest. drunk driving mini-mobilization. Currently, 37 counties are planning at least one night of alcohol enforcement during the mobilization crackdown period of Dec. 15-31. Over 150 local, county and state police agencies will be participating. The estimated cost is $325,000. A statewide news release will be sent December 17, along with localized versions to six media markets. On December 20, a follow-up news release will remind the media that alcohol enforcement efforts will continue through December 31. OHSP is also participating in the MADD Red Ribbon kickoff scheduled for Dec. 13.
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Minnesota—On Dec. 5, Minnesota held a news conference to announce its DWI mobilization as well as the 2008 Operation NightCAP counties. This received extensive media coverage. More than 32,000 Over the Limit. Under Arrest coasters were shipped to Minn. Beer Wholesalers Association for distribution to bars and restaurants.
A custom 30-second "Elf Arrest" TV PSA is being distributed to TV stations statewide.
White Castles in the Twin Cities metro will apply 150,000 DDOTLUA Post-It notes to drive-thru orders on weekends throughout December.
Customized print PSAs featuring "Open Wide and Say 'Oh $#%@'" and "Cuffed and Stuffed" are being distributed to major papers in the 15 deadliest impaired driving counties.
Media ride-along opportunities are also being promoted.
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Mississippi—The Mississippi Office of Highway Safety is working on several holiday safe driving projects.
The Law Enforcement Liaison (LEL) network program and the Mississippi Association of Highway
Safety Leaders will launch a national Christmas/New Year's Highway
Safety Blitz campaign that runs Dec. 15 through Jan. 2.
Statewide, law enforcement officers are focusing on DUI enforcement,
seatbelt/child restraint enforcement, speeding and distracted drivers.
Local law enforcement officers will also be promoting safe driving practices in schools before the
holidays.
The state MADD office is partnering with the Office of Highway
Safety and American Medical Response for the New Year's Eve project "Give a Gift of a Lift," providing rides
home for those that are to impaired to drive. Finally, Mississippi is airing two weeks of paid media radio ads, totaling $100,000.
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Missouri—Missouri's holiday impaired driving campaign began shortly before Thanksgiving. A statewide press release was followed by paid radio advertisements running Nov. 19 - Dec. 16. Additional advertising with a strong enforcement message will run Dec. 10 - 16 in preparation for statewide DWI enforcement and checkpoints on Dec. 15. The message is "You Drink & Drive. You Lose," with posters available with a "Going Out Tonight? So Are We" message.
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Montana—Law enforcement, DUI task forces, Safe Kids Safe Communities coalitions and the Montana Department of Transportation are mobilizing to prevent impaired driving this holiday season. Nearly 70 law enforcement agencies will conduct impaired driving overtime patrols between Dec. 21 and Jan. 1. Many of Montana's 21 DUI task forces will be supporting law enforcement related shoulder taps and party patrols. Safe Kids Safe Communities coalitions will partner with law enforcement, media companies and the DUI task forces to promote campaigns focused on impaired driving, such as the designated driver program and the "empty dinner party." A new media spot for TV and radio was produced with a message about one family's tragic loss because of drinking and driving.
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Nebraska—Throughout December, Nebraska's You Drink and Drive. You Lose. campaign utilizes extensive public information and enforcement to target drunk driving. Messages encourage motorists to report suspected drunk drivers using 911 or *55 on their cell phones. Over 12,000 extra hours of traffic enforcement by 53 law enforcement agencies from across the state is concentrated on weekends. The enforcement includes publicized sobriety check points and saturation patrols. The Nebraska Office of Highway Safety is also partnering with the Nebraska MADD organization with the tie one on for safety "Red Ribbon" promotion.
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Nevada—Several activities in Nevada will kick of the state's December efforts to reduce traffic fatalities and serious crashes caused by impaired drivers. The University Medical Center in Las Vegas is hosting a media event on Dec. 14 in Las Vegas, featuring law enforcement and our community partners. The Clark County Safe Communities will be working with local servers and providing free transportation to those who need a safe trip "home for the holidays." Additionally, STOP DUI will be celebrating their 20th anniversary with a red ribbon dedication at Kyle Canyon and US 95, as law enforcement statewide gears up for stepped up enforcement.
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New Jersey—New Jersey will conduct a statewide year-end impaired driving crackdown from Dec. 7 - Jan. 2. All 496 local, county and state police agencies in New Jersey will be asked to participate in the campaign. The New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety has awarded 80 grants of $5,000 each to local police departments to pay for overtime impaired driving roving patrols and fixed checkpoints.
During the most recent statewide impaired driving crackdown during the two-weeks around Labor Day, 473 police agencies in the state reported 1,655 DUI arrests.
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New Mexico—The New Mexico DOT Traffic Safety Bureau and The Bureau of Indian Affairs - Albuquerque Office are holding their
December DWI SuperBlitz
and the
Native American Don't Shatter the Dream mobilization. SuperBlitz activities are taking place from Dec. 12 - Jan. 1. Activities include billboard campaigns, New Mexico State Police participation in the Border to Border
I-40 Texas - NM - AZ DWI Enforcement Campaign and release of a new awareness and consequences TV spot,
"Mi Hijito," targeted at 18-34 year old Hispanic youths.
Throughout the mobilization, enforcement agencies in New Mexico will conduct high visibility DWI checkpoints and saturation patrols. These enforcement efforts will be support by intense paid media and earned media outreach.
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North Carolina—The North Carolina Governor's Highway Safety Program is conducting it's Holiday Booze It & Lose It campaign, which kicked off Nov. 30 with an announcement from Governor Mike Easley and will continue until Jan. 2. Stepped up patrols and checkpoints will be conducted across the state during this effort. GHSP hosted it's tenth annual "Tree of Life" ceremony Dec. 7 at the State Capitol, honoring lives lost in North Carolina traffic crashes. GHSP will also partner with the N.C. State Highway Patrol for their Drive to Live campaign aimed at teen drivers Dec.10-14.
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North Dakota—North Dakota's holiday impaired driving campaign began the second week in December with a kickoff event for a newly developed 3D Month campaign: Designate a Driver and Live. The event included a statewide news release and the first of multiple news conferences to be conducted through the month of December. Safe Communities coalitions will conduct subsequent news conferences and will further promote the Designate a Driver and Live message through partnerships with law enforcement, emergency medical services providers, bars and other community partners. Promotional items (including credit card ice scrapers, medical ID tags attached to the stethoscopes of emergency medical services providers, "blinky buttons" worn by alcohol beverage servers, table tents and posters) will be distributed widely. Bars are encouraged to provide free food to patrons, and the availability of taxi vouchers and additional hours of taxi service and sober driver services will be publicized. The Designate a Driver and Live campaign is tagged with the Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest. enforcement message, and high visibility enforcement will be conducted Dec. 15 - Jan. 2.
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Ohio—Ohio's 10 OVI Task Forces have scheduled 17 sobriety checkpoints during the holiday period. Over 200 other law enforcement agencies from around the state have holiday enforcement activities scheduled. Some larger city police departments are planning a 24 hour blitz on Dec. 21 - 22 to address office party activity. Ohio has also placed a radio media buy to complement the national holiday media campaign, Drunk Driving, Over the Limit, Under Arrest. A media release will go out from the Ohio Department of Public Safety the week of the 17th reminding motorists of the dangers of impaired driving and to plan ahead.
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Oregon—Oregon's holiday impaired driving enforcement activities coincide with several exciting DUI events this year. The Oregon Transportation Safety Division recently rolled out a new Mobile DUI Processing Center and distributed approximately 200 in-car digital video cameras to local and state police agencies. These activities, along with statewide saturation patrols and press releases, will serve to alert the driving public that impaired drivers will not be tolerated on Oregon's roadways this holiday season and remind them to "Drive Sober, Save Lives."
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Rhode Island—Rhode Island uses the You Drink and Drive. You Lose public awareness message. On Dec. 27, there will be a AAA press event to announce the next wave of MADD victim family ride-a-longs with local and state police on their enforcement patrols. Rhode Island also has a new radio spot featuring former 3-time World Champion New England Patriot Joe Andruzzi that will air on sports talk radio and possibly during Patriots game broadcasts. The state will have overtime impaired driving details with the state police and approximately 97 percent of Rhode Island's local and municipal police, running from Dec. 15 - Jan. 1.
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South Carolina—South Carolina's holiday crackdown campaign, Sober or Slammer!, combines enforcement and paid/earned media to reduce the occurrence of alcohol and drug-related traffic crashes, injuries and fatalities. Paid media runs Dec. 12 through Jan. 1. The SC Department of Public Safety’s Office of Highway Safety has a $200,000 media effort featuring two thirty-second television spots. The enforcement portion of the campaign takes place Dec. 14 - Jan. 1. The SC Highway Patrol and the State Transport Police are partnering with local law enforcement agencies to engage in aggressive DUI enforcement using public safety checkpoints and saturation patrols. A press event with local law enforcement will launch the campaign on Friday, Dec. 14. The Department of Public Safety will also be partnering with the SC Department of Transportation (SCDOT) to use SCDOT’s variable message boards to post “Statewide DUI Crackdown in Progress” messages statewide during campaign weekends.
Tennessee—Tennessee's impaired driving holiday campaign runs Dec. 15 - 31. Results will be posted on the NHTSA mobilization website by Feb. 4. Additionally, Tennessee held a 3D Press Events with the state police chiefs and sheriffs organizations on Dec. 6th, with Governor Phil Bredesen participating. A highlight of the December campaign is a 24-hour crackdown on two non-interstate roads that run from Kentucky through Tennessee to Alabama and Georgia. The crackdown will involve every agency that has jurisdiction over these roads.
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Texas—On Dec. 4, Texas held a December holiday campaign kickoff press event in San Antonio at Lackland Air Force Base, featuring Santa arriving by sky diving. Several local press events will also be conducted. Public media includes radio and TV PSAs, billboards, gas pump toppers, coasters for bars and restaurants, posters, decals for beer coolers in convenience stores and fact sheets. Materials have been produced in English and Spanish. Find samples on the TxDOT website: www.dot.state.tx.us/services/traffic_operations/traffic_safety.htm. In addition to year-long enforcement grants, Texas has an additional 36 law enforcement agencies that will be conducting overtime DWI enforcement through impaired driving mobilization grants between Dec. 21 - Jan. 1.
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Utah—Utah will hold a Media Event and DUI Checkpoint for November 30, with the message that if you plan to drive drunk this holiday season you will "Go Directly to Jail." The event will take place in the Davis County Jail in Farmington, Utah. Invited speakers include Linda Richards, a mother who lost her daughter in a DUI crash in Davis County. Following the event, media will be given a tour of the jail.
That evening, a DUI checkpoint will be set up in Layton City, conducted by officers from the newly formed Davis County Multi-Agency Task Force.
The Utah Highway Safety Office will be offering DUI saturation patrol overtime shifts to the Wasatch Front area law enforcement agencies, and members of the Salt Lake Multi-Agency Task Force are planning DUI checkpoints throughout December.
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Vermont—The Vermont Governor's Highway Safety Office has distrubuted campaign materials to law enforcement agencies across the state. Several agencies are planning DUI checkpoints. Some town constables will be participating in the checkpoints and 'sponsoring' checkpoints in their town. The Agency of Transportation Enforcement Officers, who normally work dayshifts, will flex their hours so that they can be included in the enforcement effort.
- Wisconsin—To prevent needless deaths and serious injuries by getting motorists to buckle up and drive sober during the holiday season, more than 100 law enforcement agencies throughout Wisconsin will mobilize for the Booze & Belts traffic safety effort running Dec. 10-16. The high-visibility enforcement during the Booze & Belts mobilization will be backed by federally funded media messages to deter impaired driving and increase compliance with the state’s mandatory safety belt law.
The holiday season should be a time to celebrate with friends and family. Unfortunately, all too often, too much holiday "spirit" has tragic consequences when revelers make the reckless decision to drink and drive. According to NHTSA, in December 206, 1,076 people were killed in crashes involving a driver with a BAC level of .08 or higher—above the legal limit in every state as well as the District of Columbia. This is why State Highway Safety Offices around the country are working with NHTSA,