Super Bowl 50 DUI Crackdown: MD Police Agencies

Several Maryland law enforcement agencies are planning drunk driving crackdowns and checkpoints this weekend to combat impaired drivers on Super Bowl 50 weekend.

If you plan for a party on ‪Super Bowl Sunday, plan for a sober ride home, Maryland State Police urged on Twitter.

The Denver Broncos take on the Carolina Panthers in the NFL spectacle starting at 6.30 p.m. EST on Sunday.

The state police and Howard County Police Department will be among the agencies taking part in the “40 on 40” program, according to a statement from Checkpoint Strikeforce, a multi-state effort to curb impaired driving.

In the campaign, 40 officers will be posted along the Route 40 corridor from Howard to Cecil counties taking impaired drivers off the road Friday through Sunday.

In addition to increasing patrols for Super Bowl weekend, Baltimore and Harford counties will hold DUI checkpoints.

AAA Mid-Atlantic suggests drivers download Maryland’s ENDUI app, which estimates the user’s blood alcohol concentration. The app is available at Google Play and on iTunes.

Officials offered tips for Super Bowl party-givers and party-goers:

• Serve food and non-alcoholic beverages at your party.
• Take note of who’s coming, who drinks, who drives and who is most likely to mix drinking and driving. Invite guests to stay over.
• Make sure all of guests designate their sober drivers in advance, or help arrange ride-sharing with other sober drivers. Use mass transit or call a taxi, Uber, friend or relative.
• Stop serving alcohol at the end of the third quarter of the game and begin serving coffee and dessert.
• Keep the numbers for local cab companies handy, and take the keys away from anyone who is thinking of driving while impaired.