Dover – St. Patrick’s Day is just two weeks away and the Delaware Office of Highway Safety (OHS) is reminding everyone to make plans to secure a designated driver if you plan to go out and celebrate the holiday. The New Castle County DUI Task Force is planning to coordinate a checkpoint to coincide with the pre-St. Patrick’s day festivities in Wilmington on Saturday, March 10th. Finding a designated driver on St. Patrick’s Day won’t be luck, it will be smart.
While many will be participating in pre-St. Patrick’s Day festivities on the 10th, OHS will also be coordinating additional statewide DUI enforcement for St. Patrick’s Day weekend (March 16-17). Agencies conducting DUI saturation patrols include Clayton PD, Dover PD, Felton PD, Georgetown PD, Harrington PD, Laurel PD, Middletown PD, Milford PD, Millsboro PD, New Castle County PD, Newark PD, Newport PD, Seaford PD, Smyrna PD, and Delaware State Police. The New Castle County DUI Task Force will be conducting 1 sobriety checkpoint on March 16th. Last year, police arrested a total of 66 individuals for DUI during St. Patrick’s Day enforcement activities.
“This St. Patrick’s Day, we remind everyone to make plans to find a safe way home if you plan to drink alcoholic beverages,” said Jana Simpler, Director of the Office of Highway Safety. “Don’t risk a DUI arrest or getting involved in a crash- designate a driver before you leave home.”
In 2011, 36% (37 of 103) of all vehicle deaths in Delaware were alcohol related. Since January 1st of this year, there have been 2 alcohol-related traffic deaths compared to 3 at this time last year. For more information on OHS’s year round DUI efforts please visit DUIrealtime.com, visit us on Facebook at facebook.com/ArriveAliveDE or follow us on Twitter @DEHighwaySafe.