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With the approaching Labor Day holiday weekend, the Wisconsin State Patrol is gearing up for its own holiday tradition: Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over. The campaign, conducted during major travel holidays, is an effort to both educate and inform. Education consists of informing the public of the risks of driving while impaired, a factor that was involved in nearly half (218 of 509) of all Wisconsin traffic fatalities in 2024, whether due to drugs, or alcohol. Impairment played a role in 7,067 crashes in all last year.
From Friday August 15th through Labor Day, Monday, September 1st, over 8,000 law enforcement officers across the state that are trained in Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement will be among the officers monitoring state roadways for impaired drivers. Among them – almost 400 Drug Recognition Experts will help prevent tragedies by identifying the signs of drug-impaired driving and securing convictions to keep those drivers off the roads.
Each of Wisconsin’s 18,000 Operating While Intoxicated convictions in 2024 were eligible for costs around $10,000 including fines, court costs, attorney fees, lost time at work, higher insurance rates, car towing, repairs and more.
The Wisconsin State Patrol is hoping that the Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign will encourage people to select a sober designated driver, to choose not to drive if feeling impaired, to prevent impaired friends from getting behind the wheel, and calling 911 if an impaired driver is spotted.
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