ALCOHOL Campaign targets DUI
Ohio recorded 463 alcohol-related deaths in 2003.
Mahoning Safe Communities and local law enforcement will participate in the "You Drink and Drive, You Lose" campaign from Friday through Sept. 12.
The campaign combines highly visible law enforcement with a $14 million national advertising blitz that warns motorists who drink and drive that the chances are they will be caught.
The legal blood alcohol limit for drivers is 0.08.
In 2002, more than 55 percent of fatalities in motor vehicle crashes that occurred during the Labor Day weekend were alcohol-related, according to the Ohio Department of Public Safety.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that 17,401 people were killed in alcohol-related crashes in 2003, which represents 40 percent of all people killed in all traffic crashes. In 2003, Ohio recorded 463 alcohol-related fatalities.
NHTSA estimates that someone is killed every 30 minutes by impaired drivers.
Here are tips
Mahoning Safe Communities has issued these tips:
* Be responsible and don't risk driving impaired.
* If you plan to drink, choose a designated driver before you go out.
* Take mass transit, a taxi or ask a sober friend to drive you home.
* Spend the night where the activity is held.
* Report impaired drivers to law enforcement.
* Always buckle up; it is your best defense against an impaired driver.
For more information, check out this Web site: www.stopimpaireddriving.org.