Wisconsin Law enforcement will be working hard to combat drunk driving through their “Drive Sober or Gett Pulled Over” campaign. The campaign began on August 19th and will continue through September 5th.

The “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign along with other enforcement and educational programs that aim to combat drunk driving have helped to reduce the number of alcohol-related car accidents deaths and injuries. In the last 10 years, deaths from alcohol-related crashes have been reduced by 38% and injuries from alcohol-related accidents have been reduced by almost 50%. Although the programs have helped, alcohol-related car accidents experienced an increase from 162 in 2014 to 190 in 2015 and alcohol-related car accident injuries increased by almost 5% from 2014 to 2015.

There have been 33 impaired driving task forces created in Wisconsin to help keep drunk drivers off the road. The task forces allow agencies to coordinate and combine their assests which helps enforcement efforts.

The police officers have received training in identifying drunk driving. The police oficers are prepared to stop drivers that they believe may be operating a vehicle under the influence. The objective of this program is not to arrest more people for drunk driving, but to get people to drive sober.

Along with the “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign, there is a free Drive Sober app for phones to help combat drunk driving. The app has features that include location of alternative transportation, a blood alcohol estimator and games that help determine whether or not someone is fit to drive. The app has been used by almost 70,000 people.

What else can we do to reduce drunk driving?