‘Over the limit, under arrest’ campaign runs Aug. 21 to Sept. 7

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Joseph Gonzales
  • 71st Security Forces Squadron
VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  Once again summer is ending and everyone is getting in their last minute summer fun. Families and friends are enjoying barbecues and road trips. 

With these two favorite activities there comes an increase in alcohol consumption. Where there is an increase in alcohol consumption, there is a rise in impaired driving and that prompts a ramp up in policing efforts to reduce the number of deaths on the nation's highways. 

This year during the Labor Day holiday time frame, Vance AFB will join law enforcement agencies across the nation and implement the "Drunk Driving, Over the Limit, Under Arrest" campaign. 

The campaign is nationally sponsored and directed to preventing impaired driving. It is organized by the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and uses highly visible police enforcement with increased public awareness through advertising and publicity. 

You will probably encounter sobriety checkpoints and see more police officers on the road. You will also see an increase in advertising through television and radio commercials, bulletins, articles, billboards, posters and briefings regarding impaired driving. 

The goal is to inform the public of the many dangers involved with impaired driving and that impaired driving will not be tolerated. 

Driving while impaired risks injury or death to yourself or others along with extremely high financial costs. Those costs come as higher insurance rates, attorney fees, court costs and fines. 

In Oklahoma you can be fined up to $1,000, jailed for up to one year, be required to attend an assessment and evaluation and lose your driver's license for up to 180 days. Insurance rates typically double or triple if your insurance company keeps you at all. Attorney fees can reach into the thousands of dollars. 

Be smart about your choices -- don't accept the risk. Local police departments and the 71st Security Forces Squadron will be stepping up their efforts during the "Drunk Driving, Over the Limit, Under Arrest" campaign from Aug. 21 to Sept. 7. The choices you make can be the difference between life and death. Do your part by not drinking and driving.