WILTON — The Wilton Police Department is increasing patrols through Sept. 1 as part of the 2014 Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign, police Chief Heidi Wilcox said.
Officers will increase patrols on main and secondary roads in Wilton. The department will also conduct safety checkpoints and driving-under-the-influence roadblocks during these two weeks, she said.
As part of the 2014 Drive Sober campaign sponsored by the Maine Bureau of Highway Safety and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the department will use the $10,000 in funding received for extra patrols.
“Research shows that high-visibility enforcement can reduce drunk-driving fatalities by as much as 20 percent,” Wilcox said.
“Each year on average, more than 10,000 people die on the road due to drunk driving,” according to the National Highway Traffic Safety website’s “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign description. “That equals 20 jumbo jets crashing each year. In order to stop this deadly epidemic, law enforcement in every state and most U.S. towns and cities will be cracking down on drunk driving from Aug. 15 through Labor Day.”
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