Police Slate

Drunk Driving Patrols

 Police Sergeant Douglas Wisentaner said this week police will conduct roving patrols to find, stop, and arrest drunken drivers, as well as conduct a sobriety checkpoint.

Police plan to add personnel to their patrol staff in a project to seek out drunken drivers during the evening hours on the weekend of August 22 through 24, and also on the weekend of August 28 through September 1, which is the Labor Day weekend, he said.

Also, the police department’s third sobriety checkpoint of the summer is scheduled for an unspecified roadway on the night of Friday August 29, and early morning hours of Saturday, August 30, he said.

Newtown police are joining more than 10,000 other police departments across the nation in the enforcement program, according to the sergeant.

The program’s motto is: “Drunk Driving — Over The Limit — Under Arrest.”

In 2006, approximately 13,500 people in the United States died in motor vehicle accidents in which a driver was intoxicated, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. About one-third of US motor vehicle accident fatalities occur in collisions in which an intoxicated motorist is driving.

“All too often, innocent law-abiding people suffer tragic consequences and the loss of loved ones due to this careless disregard for human life. Because we’re committed to ending the carnage, we’re intensifying enforcement during the crackdown. We’ll be especially vigilant during high-risk nighttime hours when impaired drivers are most likely to be on our roads,” Sgt Wisentaner said in a statement.

Town police will seek out intoxicated drivers and arrest them regardless of age, type of vehicle, or time of day, according to the sergeant.

Besides the possibility of serious injury or death in motor vehicle accidents, drunken drivers who survive accidents face the prospect of prison time, loss of driver’s licenses, increased insurance rates, lawyer’s fees, court costs, lost time at work, and the potential for the loss of a job or the loss of prospects for another job, according to the sergeant.

After a drunken driver’s family members, friends, and co-workers learn of an arrest, violators also face personal embarrassment and humiliation, he said.