The Fourth of July, Memorial Day and more recently, St. Patrick’s Day, are popular holidays that can too often result in an incident of drunk driving.
Officials in Pennsylvania have developed driving under the influence (DUI) task forces throughout the state in an effort to reduce this dangerous activity. The intention is to protect drivers from drunk driving car accidents, and to keep individuals who have been drinking at holiday celebrations from getting behind the wheel of a car from the start.
According to Penn Dot, there were 196 alcohol-related crashes on St. Patrick’s Day, and four fatalities, from 2010 to 2014. The Pennsylvania Driving Under the Influence Association (PA DUI) reminds everyone that drinking and driving may cost you more than you think if convicted of a DUI.
Pennsylvania Penalties for Drunk Driving
The 50 task forces include an increase of police officers patrolling the roadways as well as additional roadblocks. Pennsylvania has many punitive measures regarding DUI depending on variables such as first or second offenses, or if found to have alcohol in a person’s bloodstream while fulfilling an already imposed penalty.
If a convicted driver has a second offense within the last ten years, their driver license will be suspended along with the installation of an ignition interlock device (IID) on their vehicle for one year. The IID is a breathalyzer type device that detects alcohol levels and prohibits a vehicle from starting if the driver has been drinking. In addition, persons with the IID must periodically blow into the device in order to continue driving.
Convicted drivers face consequences including the cost to install the IID, fines, and the temporary loss of a driver license. If alcohol is detected through the device, drivers must also pay to have it recalibrated or reset each time.
The PA DUI Association runs the IID program. According to the Association, there were 5,659 devices installed in 2014 with repeat offenders driving over 55 million safe miles. This reinforces that Pennsylvania’s DUI laws are successful in preventing repeat offenses. In addition, 5,056 offenders completed the IID program while 48,457 attempts by impaired offenders were stopped from driving their vehicles, preventing potential drunk driving accidents and saving an unknown amount of lives.
