Area police departments are going to be out in force this weekend, launching a major crackdown on drunk drivers over the New Year's holiday in Maryland, Virginia, and D.C.
Every year, there are more drunk driving related traffic fatalities in the United States during a 12 hour window stretching across New Year's Eve and New Year's Day than there are on any other night. Government agencies estimate that 71 percent of all traffic accidents on this one night are caused by driving under the influence. Police departments receive funding from the Federal government in order to stage "sobriety checkpoints" and increase DUI enforcement. Since most of these programs require a lot of manpower at odd hours, cracking down on drunk driving can be really expensive, especially when you factor in all of the officers working overtime.
Departments are forced to prioritize when they want to use this funding if they want to have the biggest effect on getting drunk driver's off the road. The result is that most checkpoints are planned on summer weekends and around major holidays. But a plurality of this funding is spent on stepping up New Year's enforcement. This year, New Year's Day falls on a Monday, creating a three-day holiday weekend.
Many of these checkpoints are unplanned and unannounced, though local departments do sometimes warn the public when and where checkpoints will be. The thinking is that if someone is foolish enough to drive drunk, they probably aren't smart enough to plan their travel route around announced checkpoints. What we are seeing, however, is that local police departments are not announcing the major DUI crackdowns coming this weekend.
Take the Fairfax County Police Department as an example. Usually, FCPD's daily recap includes a portion titled "Alcohol Enforcement," which lists previous or upcoming checkpoints. Even when there are no announced sobriety checkpoints, that section of the department's daily blog post is just left empty. This week, however, there is no Alcohol Enforcement paragraph in the daily recaps. One of the Fairfax County Police Captains did warn the public recently that there would be more alcohol enforcement between Christmas and New Year's Day than at any other point of the year.
That doesn't just mean highly visible checkpoints, either. Across the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia area, there will be more officers on the roads looking for drunk drivers. The statistics don't lie. New Year's weekend is the worst time for drunk driving fatalities, so it makes sense to have a surge of law enforcement officers out there to crack down on it.
If you're going to drink this weekend, give the keys to a designated driver. If everyone in your group wants to drink and celebrate, then either grab a cab or Lyft/Uber or use public transportation.
A first time DUI offense in Washington, D.C. will cost you a $300 to $1000 fine, up to 90 days in jail, and a six-month driver's license suspension.
The consequences for drunk driving are even worse in Virginia, with a fine of up to $2,500 and a suspended license for a year. If you have a Blood Alcohol Content that is over 0.15 percent, then you could also face a mandatory minimum of a five day jail sentence.
Maryland law punishes first time offenders with a fine of up to $1000, up to a year in prison, and a six month driver's license suspension. A second offense includes mandatory jail time with a potential for receiving two years behind bars.
None of this includes the financial cost associated with fighting a DUI charge. In addition to the tens of thousands of dollars needed to pay for legal representation, you also need to factor in lost wages, especially if you end up with a suspended license and need a vehicle for work.
All in all, it will always be cheaper to take a cab. There are even free Lyft rides being offered through January 1 in the D.C. metro area.
We don't publish these articles to help drunk drivers get away with it. We do this to warn people of the consequences. Most of the fatal traffic accidents that occur over this weekend -- especially on New Year's Eve -- will be caused by alcohol. If we can stop even just one of them from happening, than this article is more than worth it.
