Published: July 02, 2009 10:24 pm      

Police patrols, checkpoints, targeting drunk drivers

CUMBERLAND — With only a slight decline of holiday travelers in Maryland predicted by AAA, local and state law enforcement agencies are supporting an initiative to reduce impaired-driving fatalities.

Approximately 709,000 Marylanders are expected to travel 50 miles or more round-trip this holiday, only a 0.6 percent decline from last year, according to AAA Mid-Atlantic.

The Maryland Chiefs of Police Association and Maryland Highway Safety Office are encouraging targeted drunken-driving saturation patrol and sobriety checkpoints throughout the Fourth of July weekend, aiming to arrest anyone who drives under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol.

In 2007, 34 percent of all drivers involved in traffic-related crashes during the Fourth of July holiday had a blood alcohol concentration of .08 or higher, according to the association. That same year, 12,988 people were killed in U.S. highway crashes involving a driver or motorcycle rider with an illegal BAC of .08 or higher — 32 percent of total traffic fatalities for the year.

“Police chiefs and their agencies throughout Maryland are looking forward to a successful Fourth of July campaign to target and apprehend impaired drivers,” said association president Bernadette DiPino, chief of the Ocean City Police Department. “Our law enforcement officers understand the importance of protecting the public on this busy holiday and will be working vigorously to apprehend and remove impaired drivers from Maryland roads.”

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Fourth of July holiday is one of the deadliest for alcohol-related car crashes. Statistics show that on average almost 51 percent of all fatal crashes on the Fourth of July are caused by impaired driving. There were 72 alcohol-related crashes in Maryland during the 2007 Fourth of July holiday period, and of those crashes, two were fatal.

Nearly 90 percent of Maryland travelers are expected to be on the highways; however, travel by this mode is forecast to decline by 1.2 percent from last year, according to AAA. “It appears that higher gas prices, which are approximately 16 cents a gallon or 7 percent higher than just a month ago, are slightly deterring Marylanders from driving to their destination this holiday weekend,” said Ragina Averella of AAA Mid-Atlantic.