Additional Hingham Police on Duty To Crack Down on Drunk Drivers

The fmessage was released Thursday by the Hingham Police Department:

The Hingham Police have been awarded a grant to participate in a national crackdown, titled “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over”, funded by a grant from the State Executive Office of Public Safety and Security (EOPSS). The grant runs from August 16 through Labor Day.

The grant will be used for additional officers to be on the road whose sole purpose is to identify and arrest all drunk drivers. These patrols will be concentrating their efforts on specific days and times and on streets where frequent drunk driving arrests or crashes have been occurring.

In Massachusetts in 2011,114 people died in alcohol related crashes. Alcohol related crashes accounted for 34% of all the fatal crashes in Massachusetts in 2011.

“Tragically, each of those deaths could have been prevented” said Traffic Sgt. Steven Dearth. “All it takes is to separate the driver from alcohol”.

Fortunately, Hingham has had no fatal crashes so far in 2013. In 2012 there was one and in 2011 there were 2. While none of those fatalities involved alcohol, drunk drivers in Hingham continue to cause crashes, many times resulting in injuries. There have been 9 alcohol related crashes so far in 2013. This is a decrease from 12 for the same period last year.

“We would like to get the number of alcohol related crashes to zero” said Sgt. Dearth.

Removing drunk drivers continues to be a year round public safety priority for the Hingham Police. To date in 2013, Hingham Police have arrested 52 drivers for Operating under the Influence. This is an increase from 46 during the same period in 2012.

In addition to strict enforcement, preventing and deterring drunk drivers also reduces the risk to the public. “We know the safest way to stop drunk driving to prevent it” said Sgt. Dearth.

To highlight the importance of deterrence, the Hingham Police are reminding people of the Designated Driver Program where the Hingham restaurants agree to serve free non-alcoholic beverages to those who identify themselves as the sober designated driver. More information about the Designated Driver Program including a list of participating restaurants can be found on the Hingham Police website, www.hpd.org .

By joining this nationwide effort, the police hope to make the roads safer throughout the Labor Day period. People can do their part by designating a sober driver before drinking; doing whatever it takes to stop a friend who is impaired from getting behind the wheel, and reporting any possible impaired drivers by immediately calling 9-1-1.