While law enforcement agencies across North Carolina conduct checkpoints throughout the year, holidays always bring an increased focus on enforcement of traffic and driving while impaired laws in the state. The Governor’s Highway Safety Program was out in full force over the Halloween holiday this past weekend. Local law enforcement agencies set up numerous DWI checkpoints and conducted saturation patrols between Oct. 28 and Oct. 31 as part of the Halloween “Booze it and Lose it” campaign.
State officials report that police agencies across North Carolina conducted 1,664 checkpoint and saturation patrol efforts during the four day period. The majority of the enforcement operations involved dedicated saturation patrols. Officials conducted a total of 353 DWI checkpoints during the campaign. Now the total numbers are in, and many North Carolina drivers were swept into the justice system from the holiday effort.
Statewide, the Governor’s Highway Safety Program says 758 drivers are facing North Carolina DWI charges from the Booze it and Lose It campaign over the Halloween holiday period. Of those overall numbers, roughly 16 percent involved persons under the age of 21.
The standard is much different in North Carolina for drivers under the age of 21. Underage DWI charges can be brought against a driver under the age of 21 based upon allegations of any measurable amount of alcohol. The normal presumptive level of impairment, set at 0.08 percent blood alcohol concentration, applies to drivers age 21 and older.
In Pitt County, law enforcement agencies conducted 15 saturation patrols and set up seven checkpoints over the weekend period, according to state officials. Four people were charged with underage DUI offenses and nine drivers over the age of 21 were charged with DWI offenses in Pitt County during the fall campaign. The 13 total drunk driving offenses in Pitt County were significantly lower than the counties experiencing the highest numbers of DWI charges.
Mecklenburg County had the highest number of DWI arrests with 58. Wake County and Robeson County followed with 51 DWI charges filed.
Source: WWAY, “‘Booze It & Lose It’ Halloween campaign nets hundreds of DWI arrests,” Nov. 4, 2011
