Michigan Police Increase DUI Checkpoints for Labor Day 2014

Don’t drink and drive, police are warning Michigan motorists. Law enforcement agencies will also be on the lookout for seat-belt violations. (Patch file photo)

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Michigan State Police will increase patrol over the long holiday weekend to crack down on drunken drivers in 26 counties.

Last year’s campaign resulted in 350 drunken driving arrests and more than 4,500 seat belt citations. Eight people died on Michigan roads last during the Labor Day 2013 weekend. Four deaths were alcohol related, and four vehicle occupants were not wearing seatbelts.

Michael Prince, director of the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning, said that in an an average year, nearly a third of the state’s traffic deaths involve alcohol or drugs.The number of alcohol-related crashes is declining, but those crashes are eight times more likely to be fatal than those not involving alcohol, police say.

Michigan law enforcement officers are “experts at catching drunk drivers and citing unbuckled motorists” and will be out in force to increase safety on Michigan roads this Labor Day weekend.

“They know all the tricks and have heard all the excuses,” he said.