FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 17, 2006

CONTACT:  SID GAULDEN, 803-896-8409

 

SCDPS, LOCAL AGENCIES LAUNCH
LABOR DAY SOBER OR SLAMMER! CAMPAIGN

 

COLUMBIA – The South Carolina Department of Public Safety (SCDPS) and local law enforcement agencies statewide announced plans today to combine efforts to combat impaired driving during the “Sober or Slammer” Labor Day campaign. The statewide DUI enforcement and public information effort concludes “100 Days of Summer HEAT (Highway Enforcement of Aggressive Traffic).

 

State and local law enforcement officials, along with representatives of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), gathered for simultaneous events in Columbia, Conway, North Charleston and Spartanburg to lay out plans for the Labor Day holiday and issue appeals to not drink and drive. The stepped-up enforcement period runs from August 18 to September 4.

 

 “We know from years of statistics that alcohol-related fatalities increase significantly around major holidays, and Labor Day is no different,” said SCDPS Director James K. Schweitzer. “But through stepped-enforcement and public education efforts, we aim to make a difference this year by deterring people from drinking and driving, which in turn will save lives.”

 

In 2005, from 6 p.m. September 2 to midnight September 5, preliminary figures show that South Carolina recorded:

 

·         13 fatal collisions, in which 16 people were killed

·         7 fatal collisions were alcohol-related

·         More than 430 people were injured

 

To underscore that DUI is a crime, today’s events also included dedications to victims of alcohol-related crashes. Sobriety checkpoints planned in each area will be dedicated to a person injured or killed in an alcohol-related collision: Margie “Lynn” Davis, of Eastover; Erica Wilson, of Surfside Beach; William “Eric” Sellars, of Spartanburg; and survivor Leah Stage, of Charleston.

 

“We so often talk about the statistics related to DUI, but real people are behind those numbers,” said Max Young, director of SCDPS’ Office of Highway Safety, which compiles collision statistics from around the state. “Real families and communities are affected when someone makes the choice to drink and get behind the wheel of a motor vehicle.”

 

“100 Days of Summer HEAT,” began Memorial Day and concludes Labor Day. It covers a 100-day period considered the deadliest on our roadways. SCDPS, working with local law enforcement across the state, is focusing efforts on reducing injuries and saving lives through the use of public safety checkpoints, saturation patrols in those areas identified as “high crash corridors” and through a concentrated educational and radio ad campaign to inform motorists of the “Sober or Slammer” campaign.

 

“Sober or Slammer” efforts mirror those of law enforcement and highway safety agencies in each state across the nation. The national “Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest.” mobilization is a comprehensive impaired driving prevention program organized by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that focuses on combining high-visibility enforcement with heightened public awareness through advertising and publicity.

 

As of August 13, 2006, 589 people died on South Carolina highways, compared to 688 in 2005. Of the 442 motor vehicle occupants who died in 2006, 285 were not wearing seat belts. These are preliminary numbers and are subject to change.