NC State Troopers and NC MADD Keep Holiday Roads Safer | Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp

The North Carolina State Police always work hard to keep drivers, bikers, and pedestrians safe. However, according to a recent press release, the NC State Troopers will work especially hard on the New Years Holiday to keep travelers on the roads sober and going at safe speeds.

Last year in North Carolina during the holiday week, 27 people were killed and just over 1,000 were injured. In general, North Carolina ranks fifth in the country for drunk driving deaths.

The roads can be dangerous in North Carolina over the holiday season both because of increased drinking and driving and because of increased traffic on the roads in general. To curb accidents rates – which inevitably go up during the last week in December – Sergeant Derek Tilley reported that there would be more officers on the road on New Year’s Eve as well as a number of sobriety checkpoints.

“Troopers will be conducting DWI (driving while impaired) checkpoints and strictly enforcing the state’s DWI laws,” read the press release from the NC Department of Crime Control and Public Safety. “The Patrol will be increasing the number of troopers on the interstates and heavily traveled corridors. Additionally, troopers will crack down on motorists who are driving recklessly or traveling at excessive speeds.”

At the same time, local MADD chapters are also working to reduce holiday season drunk driving in North Carolina. Through general campaigning and safety programs, the group hopes to eliminate drunk driving across the state in the next ten years.

Craig Lloyd, the executive director of MADD in NC, said that programs like Tie One On For Safety are decreasing the changes of revelers driving after a party. However, habitual drunk drivers continue to be a problem, many of whom have multiple arrests and revoked licenses.

“As our results show right now, we’re going to hopefully have a significant drop in drunk driving deaths over this past year,” Lloyd said.