ADDISON COUNTY — As the 2015 summer winds down, the Addison County Sheriff’s Department along with other state and local law enforcement agencies will be ramping up its enforcement efforts as part of a national crackdown on drunk driving.
The 20-day, high-visibility campaign, “2015 Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over,” is a partnership with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Vermont Governor’s Highway Safety Program (GHSP) and Vermont State, County, and Local law enforcement agencies to curb impaired driving and save lives.
Starting Aug. 21 and ending Sept. 7 (Labor Day), law enforcement partners nationwide are showing zero tolerance for drunk driving with increased state and national messaging about the dangers of driving buzzed or drunk, coupled with checkpoints and increased high-visibility patrols on the road, aiming to drastically reduce the toll of drunk driving.
Vermont Highway Safety Alliance chairman Kevin Marshia says the state is “moving in the right direction” after Vermont saw in 2014 the lowest number of traffic fatalities since World War II — but there’s still work to do. Vermont saw 44 fatalities on the road, in 2014,  according to data from Vermont State Police Lt. Garry Scott. The last time the numbers were this low was in 1944.
The Addison County Sheriff’s Department will be continuing traffic safety efforts beyond the closing date of the “2015 Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” with additional safety check points and increased high-visibility patrols around Addison County. For more on the National “2015 Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over Campaign” or for other information, visit the Addison County Sheriff’s Department on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AddisonCountySheriffsDepartment.