Impaired Driving to Spike This Fourth of July Weekend and MD State Police Are Ready

This year, Independence Day falls on the last day of a long weekend.  This has Maryland State Police predicting a sharp increase in the number of impaired drivers on the road this Fourth of July weekend, which is already one of the most traveled weekends of the summer.  The SPIDRE program, which stands for State Police Impaired Driving Effort, will be targeting drunk drivers at strategic locations based on prior DUI arrests and crash data.  Jim Ports, Deputy Secretary of the Maryland Department of Transportation indicated in a press release that "the SPIDRE team and other police agencies will be out in full force over the holiday weekend, which has the potential to be a deadly weekend."

The National Safety Council has estimated that at least 460 fatalities nationwide could occur as a result of impaired driving this Fourth of July Weekend.  This is the highest prediction in the last eight years.  Lt. Col. Anthony Satchell of the Maryland State Police Field Operations Division has remarked that "Drunk driving can be avoided by making alternate plans."  Be sure to plan ahead this holiday weekend, and if you're on the road, keep an eye out for drunk drivers.