The Carlton County Sheriff's Office arrested 11 impaired drivers during a Safe & Sober impaired driving campaign conducted throughout December. The Minnesota Department of Public Safety coordinated the effort that included around 400 Minnesota law enforcement agency participants.
"Make a New Year's Resolution to drive sober and use a designated driver," says Deputy Dan Danielson. "If you choose not too, it won't be a very happy New Year for you or innocent motorists."
Depending on a variety of variables, a first-time DWI arrest can lead to a loss of license for 90 days. When factoring in increased insurance cost rates, legal and other fees, the expense of a DWI can cost up to nearly $20,000. Over 471,700 Minnesotans have a DWI on record, meaning one in eight Minnesotans with a driver's record has a DWI.
During this specific enforcement period here in Carlton County, two of the DWI arrests were result of the drivers being involved in automobile accidents. Luckily, in both incidents the injuries were minimal, which isn't always the case in alcohol-related accidents. Along with that, during the officer's roadside contacts with other impaired drivers, various other law violations were observed including possession of narcotics. Two separate DWI arrests also resulted in the impaired drivers vehicles being seized for forfeiture by the Sheriff's Office, pending the normal court hearings on the matter.
Although there were no felony level DWI arrests during this wave, six of the 11 arrests were at the gross misdemeanor level. The enforcement campaign was a component of the Toward Zero Deaths (TZD) initiative, a partnership led by the Minnesota departments of Public Safety, Transportation and Health, and county engineers. TZD encourages local stakeholders to address traffic issues through enforcement, engineering, education and emergency trauma care response.
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The Safe & Sober campaign is funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The program is designed to reduce traffic-related fatalities and injuries.
