OSHP warns against holiday drinking while driving

COLUMBUS (AP) — Authorities in Ohio and throughout the region are warning that drunken driving won’t be tolerated over the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol said today that troopers will be out in full force to take drunken motorists off the roads. The patrol notes that it made more than 600 arrests for impaired driving during the Independence Day travel period last year.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says law-enforcement agencies throughout the Midwest will take part in a coordinated crackdown on drunken driving for five days, beginning Friday. The agency says alcohol typically plays a role in nearly half of all fatal crashes around the Fourth of July.