14 News, The Tri-State's News and Weather Leader-Drunk driving arrests drop, but blitz still on

Drunk driving arrests drop, but blitz still on

By Gretchen Ross - bio | email | Twitter
Posted by Rich Miller - email

EVANSVILLE, IN (WFIE) - Operation Pullover is underway across southwestern Indiana as authorities crack down on dangerous drivers.  The good news so far is that drunken driving arrests have dropped.

State police say they have only made four drunk driving arrests compared to 26 this time last year.

Officials say increased awareness of the consequences of driving drunk have led to fewer impaired drivers on the road.

Evansville resident Heather Nance says the billboards proclaiming "Over the Limit; Under Arrest" make her think twice about going out drinking with friends and consider other options.  

"Spending time with people at their houses and stuff like that where there's always room available if I don't feel like I can make it home myself."

Others, however, do still drink and drive.

Since Operation Pullover started last Friday, ISP has arrested four drunken drivers, written 156 traffic citations and issued 228 warnings.  Last year at this time, ISP says 26 drunk drivers were arrested, 434 traffic citations were written and 484 warnings handed out.

"That is a huge difference," said Sgt. Todd Ringle.  "But I can assure you the numbers will increase. I know we are going to have a couple of sobriety checkpoints. And we have a big saturation patrol coming up."

Ringle says arrests may be down because several troopers were attending training sessions that kept them off the road. 

"We would like to think, though, during these Operation Pullover blitzes all the media campaign and advertisements that occurs, a lot of people simply stay home or refrain from drinking and driving."

So far the Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Office and Evansville Police Department have arrested nine drunken drivers, written 370 speeding tickets and handed out 50 other citations.

"Versus last year we're 20 percent ahead in citations and contacts," said Vanderburgh County Chief Deputy Dave Wedding.  "A lot of people don't get the message about driving responsibly and safely."

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