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Police, DPS will combine DWI enforcement efforts for holidays
FROM STAFF REPORTS
Throughout the upcoming 2012 holiday season the Carrollton and Coppell Police Departments, along with the Texas Highway Patrol, will be combining efforts and resources into a task force focused on intoxicated drivers.
All three agencies will be deploying officers to apprehend intoxicated drivers on roadways throughout Coppell and Carrollton, as well as bordering highways and interstate roadways. Arrests will be considered “No Refusal,” and the officers will be prepared to seek search warrants to obtain blood samples from those arrested.
Mark Dant, Carrollton assistant chief of police, is a strong proponent of partnership-based DWI enforcement.
Coppell Police Chief Mac Tristan said, “The family of someone killed by a drunk driver is not going to be concerned about where city limits start and end. A drunk driver just outside the city limits of Coppell poses just as serious a threat to our roadways and our community. We are glad to partner with Carrollton and Texas Highway Patrol.”
Texas Highway Patrol will do its part by having troopers patrolling in an effort to keep the traveling public safer.
Cathy Quad, a representative of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), noted that traffic fatalities increased a projected nine percent in the first half of 2012 when compared with 2011. It was the largest percentage increase for a half-year time period on record.
“While we don't know yet how many of these deaths were caused by drunk driving, we do know that nearly one-third of all fatal crashes involve a drunk driver,” she said. “An increase like this could mean almost one thousand additional people would be killed in drunken driving crashes. MADD recognizes that high visibility law enforcement is the greatest deterrent to drunk driving and supports the joint effort of Carrollton and Coppell Police Departments and the Texas Highway Patrol for their DWI high intensity deployment over the holidays.”
She said anyone seeing any signs of intoxication among motorists should call 911 immediately. She said signs of intoxication include, but are not limited to:
* Weaving or zig-zagging across the road
* Stopping without cause or erratic braking
* Driving with headlights off at night
* Driving slower than 10 miles an hour below speed limit
* Driving into opposing traffic on the wrong side of the road
She said anyone observing this kind of behavior should tay as far away from the other vehicle as possible and follow the instructions of the public safety dispatcher.
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