Plymouth County cracks down on drunk drivers

"The state has several times they do these things," said Chief Deputy Craig Bartolozzi. "Labor Day is one of the worst holidays for this kind of thing because of last minute vacationers and such."

Nationwide, over $50 million will be spent on this year's crackdown, dubbed "Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest." Of that money, $20 million will be spent on extra police enforcement, including saturation patrols and sobriety checkpoints. The remaining $30 million will go to advertising.

"We'll be doing saturated patrols for sure," Bartolozzi said. "We'll also have one or two officers working the same stretch of highway at all times of the day."

The Plymouth County Sheriff's Office will be aggressively looking for all impaired drivers during the crackdown and will arrest anyone they find driving with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or above, regardless of age, vehicle type, or time of day. Violators often face jail time, loss of their driver's license, or are sentenced to use an ignition interlock.

"All too often, innocent, law-abiding people suffer tragic consequences and the loss of loved ones due to this careless disregard for human life," Bartolozzi said.

The latest data reports 32 percent of motor vehicle driving fatalities involved an impaired driver. In 2006 alone, 13,500 people, including 306 children under the age of 15, died in accidents where the driver was impaired.

"Our message is simple and unwavering," Bartolozzi said. "If we find you driving impaired, we will arrest you -- no exceptions. Even if you beat the odds and walk away from an impaired-driving crash alive, motorists should be aware that the consequences of driving while impaired can still virtually destroy your life."