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The Marion County Traffic Safety Partnership issued 1,914 traffic citations, made 119 driving impaired arrests (95 misdemeanor, 24 felony), 9 other arrests (7 misdemeanor, 2 felony) during the national Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over mobilization.
About 230 Indiana law-enforcement agencies joined thousands nationwide to increase roving patrols, saturation patrols and sobriety checkpoints. Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over is supported with National Highway Traffic Safety Administration funds distributed by the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute.
“Highly visible, data-driven traffic enforcement such as this has been proven to deter impaired driving,” said Captain Fred Ilnicki. “Our commitment to enforcing the law and saving lives continues throughout the year.”
In every state, it is illegal to drive with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or higher. In Indiana, drivers under 21 with a BAC of .02 or higher are subject to fines and a license suspension for up to 1 year. Since 2017, more than 2,600 portable breath tests have been purchased for state and local law-enforcement agencies across Indiana.
Getting arrested for operating a vehicle while intoxicated (OWI) means going to jail and losing your driver’s license. The average cost? About $10,000, including car towing and repairs, attorney fees, fines, court costs, lost time at work and other hefty expenses. For more information, visit http://on.IN.gov/drivesober.
Drive High – Get an OWI
Impaired driving includes more than alcohol, and there is no quick field test for the many prescription, over-the-counter and illegal drugs that can impair drivers. This year, the police officers highly trained to recognize and enforce drug-impaired driving were issued Android tablets to simplify documentation for prosecution.
