District and Maryland police agencies kick off this holiday season with a joint border-to-border impaired driving enforcement activity along Southern Avenue, SE. Their message is Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over. District and Maryland officers will be working together December 9th and 10th to get drunk drivers off the roads. These coordinated efforts to protect against impaired driving will be conducted in a fair and equitable way. This event will mark the beginning of enhanced impaired driving enforcement throughout the region for the month of December.
Law enforcement from the Prince George’s County Police Department, Metropolitan Police
Department, Forest Heights Police Department, Seat Pleasant Police Department and Maryland
State Police will participate in a Border-to-Border Impaired Driving enforcement activity along Southern Avenue, SE, DC on December 9th and 10th.
Prince George’s County and the District’s Wards 7 and 8 have some of the region’s highest impaired driving fatalities and injuries. Between 2018 and 2020, approximately 35% of all the District’s fatalities were impaired driving fatalities in Wards 7 and 8. In 2021, there have been eight traffic-related fatalities on Southern Avenue, SE. Between 20% to 25% of crashes by impaired drivers in Wards 7 and 8 involved someone with a driver’s permit from Maryland. In Maryland, 20% of all fatalities caused by impaired driving occurred in Prince George’s County in 2019 and over the past five years, on average, 13% of total impaired crashes in Prince George’s County involved a driver from the District.
In response to this alarming trend, on December 9th and 10th the Metropolitan Police Department will be conducting enforcement activities along a 6.5 mile stretch of Southern Avenue SE. Maryland police agencies will be conducting enforcement along five feeder roads to Southern Avenue: Indian Head Highway, Branch Avenue, Pennsylvania Avenue, Marlboro Pike, and Central Avenue.
“Our officers are committed to achieving a safer community, and our collective enforcement efforts are a part of the solution to eliminate drunk driving. It’s so important that drivers act responsibly not only during the holidays, but all the time,” said Metropolitan Police Department’s Chief of Police Robert Contee. Prince George’s Police Department’s Chief of Police Malik Aziz added that, “The holidays are a special time of year for most, and we want our community members to enjoy this season. We need commitment from our drivers that they’ll keep the roads free of drunk drivers so that everyone can have a safe holiday.”
“The rise in impaired driving and overall unsafe driving behaviors is leading to the increase in dangerous crashes on Maryland roadways,” said Maryland Department of Transportation’s Motor Vehicle Administration Administrator Chrissy Nizer, who serves as Governor Larry Hogan’s Highway Safety Representative. “We are thankful for all of our law enforcement partners in Maryland and Washington, D.C. who are addressing these behaviors to help save lives.”
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), nationally 10,142 people were killed in drunk driving crashes in 2019, accounting for nearly one-third of traffic crash fatalities. On average, more than 10,000 people were killed each year from 2015 to 2019
— one person was killed in a drunk-driving crash every 52 minutes in 2019. This is why the region is working with NHTSA to remind drivers that drunk driving is not only illegal, but also a matter of life and death. As you head out to holiday festivities, remember: Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over.
Understand the risks: In the DC region, it’s illegal to drive with a BAC of .08 or higher. If you’re caught drinking and driving, you could face jail time, lose your driver’s license, your vehicle, and pay up to $10,000 in attorney’s fees, fines, higher insurance rates, and lost wages.
If you’re the designated driver, make sure you keep that promise of safety to yourself and your passengers. Stay hydrated with water and other non-alcoholic beverages. Support other designated drivers, too. It can be a long night, but people are counting on you, not to mention the other drivers, passengers, and pedestrians on the streets. Take the role of designated driver seriously — people are relying on you.
Celebrate with a Plan:
- Remember, that it is never okay to drink and drive. Even if you’ve had only one alcoholic beverage, designate a sober driver or plan to use public transportation or a ride service to get home safely.
- In the DC region use Washington Regional Alcohol Program’s (WRAP) SoberRide®, one of the nation’s most successful free safe ride programs for impaired drivers. WRAP’s SoberRide® provides a free Lyft ride home up to $15. Visit SobeRide.com for details.
- If you see a drunk driver on the road, contact local law enforcement.
- Do you have a friend who is about to drink and drive? Take the keys away and help your friend get home safely.
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