Source: Don Stubbings, 785-532-6412, ksu135@k-state.edu

Thursday, Aug. 18, 2011

KEEPING ROADWAYS SAFE: CAMPUS POLICE TAKING PART IN STATE CRACKDOWN ON DRUNK DRIVERS

MANHATTAN -- Drunk driving. Over the limit. Under arrest.

If you or someone you know sometimes drives after drinking alcohol or consuming other drugs, be warned that from Thursday, Aug. 18, through Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 5, there will be additional enforcement of Kansas drunk driving and other traffic laws -- and the Kansas State University Police Department will participate.

The department is among 150 other local police agencies and the Kansas Highway Patrol taking part in an effort to educate about impaired driving and remove impaired drivers from the roadways. The crackdown is called Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest. It's underwritten by a grant from the Kansas Department of Transportation.

"The K-State Police Department will be aggressively patrolling for impaired drivers and unrestrained drivers around the K-State community during this period," said Capt. Don Stubbings.

Alcohol-related crashes kill three people and injure another 61 each day on Kansas roads. According to the state Department of Transportation, if you are involved in an alcohol-related crash -- in any capacity -- you are two and a half times more likely to be injured and four and a half times more likely to be seriously injured or killed than if you are involved in a crash in which alcohol is not determined to be a factor. The ratio of death to injury in alcohol-related crashes is almost four times higher than the death-to-injury ratio for crashes not involving alcohol.