Our Opinion: Drive sober or face severe consequences

The safe driving campaign connected with Labor Day begins early this year, with an emphasis on sobriety.

The annual "Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over" crackdown on drunk driving starts today and continues through Sept. 1, the Labor Day holiday.

Are sober drivers involved in accidents? Of course.

But the consequences of driving while intoxicated and being involved in, or causing, an accident often are far more severe.

Consider these two news stories published in Thursday's News Tribune.

Larry Gene Welch is seeking modification of the four prison terms he received after pleading guilty to driving while intoxicated and causing an accident that killed two people, a mother and son, and injured two others.

Dennis Leporin was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment for driving while intoxicated and causing a wrong-way, head-on collision that killed a teenage girl.

The pain, anguish and remorse associated with these fatal crashes are very real consequences of impaired driving.

But a consequence of impaired judgment is people continue to think consequences won't happen to them.

Wrong. Consider:

• DWI arrests totaled 587 statewide during last year's campaign in August and September.

• Last year, 223 people died and 738 were seriously injured in crashes involving at least one impaired driver. That translates into about one impaired driving fatality every 36 hours.

• During last year's Labor Day weekend, 10 people died and 41 were seriously injured in crashes involving at least one impaired driver.

Although these statistics are dire, high-visibility enforcement campaigns are making a difference. Data from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration show past campaigns resulted in a 20 percent drop in substance-impaired crash fatalities.

Law enforcement officials want to build on that momentum.

They intend to be out in force the next two weeks. Their purpose is to keep you safe by eliminating drunk drivers from the roadways.

Drunk driving is flirting with disaster, which is why people don't do it unless their judgment is impaired. If you plan to consume alcohol, put safeguards in place to prevent you from getting behind the wheel.

Otherwise, face the consequences of pain, anguish and remorse, and the prospects of a hospital bed, prison cell or graveyard.