BROWN DEER, Wis. — Law enforcement across Southeast Wisconsin are ramping up their efforts to keep drunk drivers off the streets with the "Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over" campaign. It's an annual effort that puts more officers on the roads as we head towards the labor day holiday weekend.
Brown Deer Police Department is one of the agencies taking part in "Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over." Officer Timothy Benway is one of the faces you might see if you get pulled over for driving drunk in that city.
"I think most commonly people just don't think that they are intoxicated. They think they are safe to drive," Benway said.
But the numbers prove otherwise. Every day nearly 30 people in the U.S. die from drunk driving cases according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Just last month in Milwaukee County there were 70 OWI arrest, 58 were from driving drunk and 12 were from driving under the influence of drugs.
"Most often in my experience they have been drinking in Milwaukee and they are on their way home," Benway said. "I might ask them how much they have had to drink and a very common answer is, 'Oh, just two beers.' That is a very, very common answer."
Which is why the "Dive Sober or Get Pulled Over" campaign is back underway. The focus is to keep people safe as summer wraps up with parties and barbecues.
"I'm looking for things like speeding, an inability to stay in a lane, equipment violations. For example, if someone is driving around at night without any headlights," Benway said. "When we are taking an impaired driver off the road it is just safer for everyone involved including themselves."
