You Better Watch Out, DPS is watching
Seventeen counties in Texas have the highest alcohol-related accidents, and Travis County is on the list, the Texas Department of Public Safety said.
Be yee warned, DPS started an initiative Friday that will increase the number of troopers on the highway and aims to decrease the number of accidents and fatalities. (AKA, make more DWI arrests)
At the same time, Austin police is continuing it’s campaign to target drunken drivers during the holidays.
The DPS project is titled Impaired Driving Mobilization (IDM) and will run through September of next year. Four waves of increased law enforcement will occur around Christmas and New Year’s, Spring Break, Independence Day and Labor Day, Lt. Henry Betancourt said.
“The project is in conjunction with ‘Don’t drink and drive’ and ‘Drink. Drive. Go to jail’ campaigns,” Betancourt said. “This is also in conjunction with the national Impaired Driving Mobilization campaign.”
The highest occurrences of impaired driving usually transpire around the holidays, Betancourt said, which creates the need for more patrol units.
“There are certain times through the year where there is a likelihood of intoxicated drivers with children or drugs in the vehicle,” he said. “We’re going to target those areas we feel have a lot of impaired drivers. Troopers who are off duty will be in the field. This increases the manpower on the road.”
Betancourt was unsure how many extra troopers would be on the highway, but it should increase the arrests in Travis County.
You can be sure, Austin Police will also have their own crackdown on impaired drivers, furthering their practice of zero tolerance.
Remember, if you are arrested, make sure you know your rights. If you are not sure what those rights are, please visit our Rights page at: DRIVER’s RIGHTS
And most importantly, please have a save holiday season. If you drink, have someone drive you. If you are arrested for DWI, call me. I can help you.