Police across Berks County are joining the nationwide Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign to crack down on impaired driving in the days leading up to Labor Day.
From August 15 through September 1, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is working with local police to increase DUI checkpoints and roving patrols. The high-visibility enforcement effort is designed to prevent crashes and save lives during one of the deadliest holiday periods for drunk driving.
According to NHTSA, 511 people were killed in traffic crashes nationwide during the 2023 Labor Day holiday. More than a third of those deaths involved a drunk driver, and 68 percent of impaired drivers killed had a blood alcohol concentration of .15 or higher. Among drivers ages 18 to 34 killed in crashes, nearly half had blood alcohol levels of .08 or higher…