From August 16 through September 2, which includes the Labor Day holiday weekend, the Wagner Police Department will be working alongside the South Dakota Department of Public Safety- Office of Highway Safety, and the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in the Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over high-visibility enforcement campaign. The goal is to deter impaired driving and prevent the tragedies seen in previous Labor Day weekends from happening again.

According to NHTSA, during the 2022 Labor Day holiday (6 p.m. September 2-5:59 a.m. September 6), there were 490 crash fatalities nationwide. Of these 490 traffic crash fatalities, 39% (190) involved a drunk driver, and a quarter (25%) involved drivers who were driving with a BAC almost twice the legal limit (.15+ BAC). Among drivers between the ages of 18 and 34 who were killed in crashes over the Labor Day holiday in 2022, 47% of those drivers were drunk, with BACs of .08 or higher. According to South Dakota accident records in South Dakota, over the last 5-year (2018 through 2022) Labor Day Holiday weekend there have been 8 people killed, and 69 people injured in impaired driving crashes on South Dakota roadways. This is why the Wagner Police Department is working together with the South Dakota Department of Public Safety-Office of Highway Safety, and NHTSA to remind drivers that impaired driving is not only illegal; it’s a matter of life and death. As you head out to festivities during the end of summer and Labor Day weekend, remember: Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over.

We want our community members to understand that it’s our priority to keep people safe, so we’re asking everyone to plan ahead if they know they’ll be out drinking. The Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign is an awareness effort to get the message out that drunk driving is illegal, and it takes lives. Let’s make this a partnership between law enforcement and drivers: Help us protect the community and put an end to this senseless behavior.

Drivers should be safe during this Labor Day holiday by planning ahead if they intend to drink. They shouldn’t wait until after drinking to plan how to get home. Impairment clouds a person’s judgment. Drivers should secure a designated sober driver or call a taxi or rideshare for a sober ride home.

If a driver finds they are unable to drive, they should give their keys to a sober driver so that person can get them home safely. When a friend has been drinking and is considering driving, friends should be proactive — take away the keys and help them get a sober ride home. If anyone spots a drunk driver, contact local law enforcement.

For more information on impaired driving, visit www. nhtsa.gov/risky- driving/ drunk-driving, and https:// drivesafesd.com/