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Baxter County Patrol Vehicle

Sheriff's Office will participate in the "Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest " Program

12/17/2010

December 17, 2010

The Baxter County Sheriff's Office has recently been accepted as a participant in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Highway Safety Grant Program administered by the Highway Safety Office of the Arkansas State Police.

As a participant in this program, the Sheriff's Office will be an active participant in the "Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest " national program, which is in effect over the Thanksgiving holiday from December 20, 2010 to January 2, 2011.

In 2008 alone, nearly 12,000 people died in crashes in which a driver or motorcycle rider was at or above the legal limit, according to the latest statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The age group with the highest percentage of alcohol impaired drivers in fatal crashes is young people age 21-24.

In every State as well as the District of Columbia it is illegal to drive with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 grams per deciliter or higher. Approximately 10,000 police agencies will participate in this year's mid-August through Labor Day crackdown, including law enforcement officers representing every State, the District of Columbia and many U.S. cities and towns.

According to the latest data, 32 percent of fatalities in motor vehicle traffic crashes involved a driver or motorcycle rider with a BAC of .08 g/dL or above - an average of one fatality every 45 minutes.

Deputies from the Baxter County Sheriff's Office will be aggressively looking for all impaired drivers during the crackdown and will arrest anyone they find driving while impaired - regardless of age, vehicle type, or time of day.

The national Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest. crackdown is led by NHTSA and combines high-visibility enforcement with heightened public awareness through advertising and publicity.

For more information on the crackdown, visit the High-Visibility Enforcement Campaign Headquarters at www.StopImpairedDriving.org.

The Sheriff's Office STEP program is administered by Sgt. Andy Bower.

Sheriff John Montgomery