Area law enforcement agencies will take part in the “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign during July 4.
The enforcement is used to catch and arrest impaired drivers who put themselves and others at risk, according to a news release.
“Local police will be out in force throughout this Independence Day, on the lookout for motorists who have had too much alcohol to be behind the wheel of a vehicle,” said Bentonville Police Cpl. Mike Calnan. “Police will have zero tolerance for alcohol scofflaws who drink and drive this July 4, putting themselves and everyone else on Bentonville roads at risk of life and limb.”
The latest statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration underscore the continuing toll drunken driving imposes on the nation, according to the release. Impaired-driving crashes killed 9,878 people in 2011, accounting for 31 percent of the total traffic fatalities in the United States. That’s an average of one alcohol-impaired-driving fatality every 53 minutes, according to administration officials.