More Than 700 Cited in Recent 'Booze It & Lose It' Campaign

Raleigh, N.C. — The Highway Patrol is processing a busy St. Patrick's Day weekend.

State and local law enforcement officers cited 733 people for driving while impaired during the weekend's "Booze It and Lose It"
campaign. A total of 19,185 traffic and criminal citiations were issued statewide.

Officers across the state conducted nearly 1,900 sobriety checkpoints. The counties with the highest number of DWI citations were Mecklenburg with 46, Wake with 37 and Cabarrus with 30.

“I commend our state and local law enforcement officers for their continued dedication to keeping motorists safe from impaired drivers,” Gov. Mike Easley said. “Their increased visibility during the past weekend reinforces the message that drinking and driving is not acceptable in North Carolina."

"Booze It and Lose It" is coordinated by the Governor's Highway Safety Campaign in conjunction with the state Highway Patrol and local law enforcement agencies.

Authorities also issued 1,751 safety belt and 275 child passenger safety violations, 6,089 speeding violations and 463 drug charges. In addition, officers apprehended 175 fugitives from justice and recovered 36 stolen vehicles.

91 Comments

WRAL.com welcomes your comments on this story. All comments are moderated prior to publication based on our posting guidelines. Please review them prior to posting and if your message is not approved.

VIEW ALL 91 COMMENTS

This story is closed for comments. Comments on WRAL.com news stories are accepted and moderated between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Latest Comments

If their BAC was a 1.5 they wouldn't have to worry about fines, they'd be very dead. .15 on the other hand...........

Derrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
March 22, 2007 6:34 p.m.

OK, I did research on the first time offender for DUIs. I was shocked what can happen to someone barely at a .08 not speeding yet gets pulled over for a minor traffic violation. Even if this driver has a perfect driving record you get 12 points on your license for the first offense (12 POINTS). What where the insurance rate be for this??? Who would insure the individual??? Not only that, you can have you licensed suspended for a year (minimal one month!!!!!!!!) and server jail time.

This wouldn't even include lawyer and court fees.

Now does this seems like a punishment that fits the crime for a one time offender who was not pulled over for any aggressive driving or speeding. It's a traffic violation and nothing more.

I understand imposing a heavy fine. And if their BAC is over say 1.2 or 1.5. However a suspended license for up to a year could cost someone their job, house, etc. regardless of it being a BAC of .08 or 1.5.

ThisAndThat
March 22, 2007 4:16 p.m.

ElDoggo, you aren't the only one appalled by this. I can't believe some of the ignorance posted in these forums about this topic. Checkpoints every weekend? Every day? Someone posted statistics stating that the checkpoints and overzealous enforcement don't really do anything to reduce DUIs. The only thing it does it keep people like my wife and me from spending money at a restaurant on a Friday/Saturday night because if we want to share a bottle of wine with dinner, I don't want to deal with the aggravation. Therefore, that's about $100 OUT OF THE CHARLOTTE ECONOMY EVERY WEEKEND. THE CHECKPOINTS DO NOT DETER THE CHRONIC DRUNK! All they do is make statutory criminals out of those who are generally law abiding.

I also find it very strange that NC has aggressive enforcement of DUI, yet it has such a high rate of DUI. A state like NJ, that actually fought the Feds on reducing the BAC to .08 from .10, has very little aggressive enforcement, and a relatively small problem.

knelsud92
March 22, 2007 2:14 p.m.

ncguy you say checkpoints should be illegal? Does that mean that they should do nothing to get the drunk driver off the road or that they should just wait until he hits you or one of your family or friends head on and kills one of them and he walks unharmed? Sounds like calling the fire department AFTER the house has burned to the ground.