North Carolina Governor Easley Announces ‘Booze It & Lose It’ Campaign Nets 4,367 Dwi Arrests

More Than 155,000 Traffic and Criminal Citations Issued Statewide During Holiday Campaign

1/8/2008 -- Raleigh - North Carolina Governor Mike Easley announced today that state and local law enforcement officers issued citations to 4,367 motorists for driving while impaired during the Holiday “Booze It & Lose It” campaign. The campaign, which ran from Nov. 30, 2007 to Jan. 2, yielded 155,194 traffic and criminal citations statewide.

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“I commend our state and local law enforcement officers for their vigilance in removing impaired drivers from our roads,” Easley said. “This high-visibility enforcement is sending a strong message that drinking and driving will not be tolerated in North Carolina.”

During the campaign, which was sponsored by the Governor’s Highway Safety Program, officers conducted nearly 13,000 sobriety checkpoints and dedicated patrols. While officers focused on impaired driving violations, they also issued 11,255 safety belt and 1,594 child passenger safety violations 51,458 speeding violations and 3,446 drug charges as well as 81,668 other violations. In addition, they apprehended 1,136 fugitives from justice and recovered 270 stolen vehicles.

The Governor’s Highway Safety Program has scheduled a series of traffic safety enforcement campaigns for 2008. Following is a tentative schedule (the dates are subject to change and more events may be added):
• March 14-17: St. Patrick’s Day “Booze It & Lose It”
• April 1-6: “No Need 2 Speed”
• May 19-June 1: “Click It or Ticket”
• June 27-July 7: Operation Firecracker “Booze It & Lose It”
• Aug. 15-Sept.1: Labor Day “Booze It & Lose It”
• Oct. 30-Nov. 2: Halloween “Booze It & Lose It”
• Nov. 17-30: “No Need 2 Speed”
• Dec. 1-Jan. 2, 2009: Holiday “Booze It & Lose It”

For county-by-county citation totals, visit the program’s Web site at: www.ncdot.org/programs/ghsp/news/.

Source: North Carolina Governor