Highway Patrol Cracking Down on Drunk Driving

MUSKINGUM COUNTY, Ohio-The Ohio State Highway Patrol will be in full force to crack down on drunk and impaired driving on New Years Eve. 

As with all major holidays the patrol will have extra officers on duty. Trooper Brice Nihiser tells us more. 

“Troopers are going to be out on the New Years holiday and we want to be making sure that everyone drives responsibly and we want to make sure that we get those impaired drivers off the road. We want to make sure that everyone has a safe holiday and makes it home… Safe driving means sober driving. If you do indulge in New Years activities or something like that just make sure that you do have a sober designated driver.”

Driving while under the influence is a citable offence. Offenders can see jail time. 

“If you are stopped for impaired driving and you are found to be impaired you will receive a citation, spend time in jail and then ultimately go to court for it… If there’s anyway that you can guarantee that you’ll make it home without getting behind the wheel after you’ve consumed alcohol, that’s a plus.”, Nihiser continued.

In 2019 alcohol contributed to one out of every three traffic fatalities in Ohio.