Updated: November 20, 2011 - 4:00am
Preliminary results from KHP regarding this enforcement effort. Released: December 1, 2011 LINK
Law Enforcement throughout the Douglas and Johnson County area are participating in the Kansas Thanksgiving Traffic Enforcement Campaign. The campaign will begin Monday, November 21 and last through Sunday, November 27, 2011. A grant from the Kansas Department of Transportation will enable area law enforcement to have more officers present on area roadways to aggressively enforce Kansas traffic laws. Officers will be looking especially for impaired drivers and for children, teens, and adults who are not legally and properly secured with a seat belt or child safety restraint system.
According to KDOT, the Thanksgiving holiday weekend (Wednesday-Sunday) commonly outranks all other holidays in its number of alcohol related crashes. Those driving under the influence of alcohol or other drugs, endanger not only themselves, but also their passengers, other motorists, and pedestrians. Across Kansas, six persons - most of them innocent - are killed or injured in nine alcohol-related crashes each day. KDOT says compared with non-alcohol-related crashes, vehicle occupants in alcohol-related crashes are over two and a half times more likely to be injured or killed. Each week across Kansas over 300 drivers are arrested for driving under the influence.
Failure to take the time to buckle up is also responsible for needless death and maiming. Those who do not buckle up are about 12 times more likely to be killed and almost twice as likely to suffer injury as those who do buckle up. Even worse is the fact that the injuries suffered by those who are unbuckled are likely to be much more severe or disabling than those suffered by an occupant who is properly restrained. According to KDOT, which tracks all crashes in the state, crashes are most likely to occur within a short distance from home.
Area law enforcement reminds the public that if you are going to be drink, always designate a non-drinking driver. Make arrangements ahead of time.
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