Mentor Police, Highway Patrol Looking for Drunk Drivers

Mentor Police want people to enjoy these next two weeks, including the long Labor Day weekend.

However, they don't want people to enjoy it too much and then try to drive.

Mentor police officers are stepping up traffic enforcement as part of the Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign. Their goal is to weed out drunk drivers and keep the roads safer, Mentor Police Lt. Tom Powers said.

The campaign lasts through Sept. 5. It is funded primarily by the Ohio Department of Public Safety, which uses grant funds from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Meanwhile, the Ohio State Highway Patrol will be doubling the amount of sobriety checkpoints it had last year as part of the campaign, according to a story from Newsnet5.

The NHTSA provided $450,000 that goes to police and trooper overtime and pays for the manpower needed to increase traffic enforcement and run the sobriety checkpoints.

The patrol plans to have 27 sobriety checkpoints this weekend. The checkpoints will be located in areas with the highest numbers of alcohol-related deaths, injuries and arrests, the patrol said.

According to the OSHP, 432 people died in 394 alcohol-related fatal crashes on Ohio’s roads in 2010. Alcohol-impaired drivers were involved in 40 percent of all fatal crashes.