MADD Oregon Joins Launch of Statewide Labor Day Crackdown

Mothers Against Drunk Driving volunteers of the Eugene and Portland Affiliate offices joined the Oregon Governor’s Advisory Committee on DUII, in conjunction with the Oregon State Police, Oregon Association of Chiefs of Police, Oregon State Sheriff’s Association and the Oregon Department of Transportation, for crackdown kickoff efforts that began August 21 as part of the National Drunk Driving- Over the Limit. Under Arrest. campaign, which runs through Labor Day. To kick off the state’s participation, traffic safety partners held an alcohol impairment awareness demonstration Tuesday, August 18 at the Portland Police Bureau’s Southeast Precinct. The goal: raise awareness about the importance of driving sober so we can save lives.

Driving under the influence is one of America’s deadliest crimes. In Oregon last year, 136 people lost their lives in alcohol-impaired crashes, according to ODOT’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS). Over the 2008 Labor Day weekend alone, nine people died in crashes involving alcohol or drugs. Nationwide in 2008, nearly 12,000 people died in highway crashes involving a driver or motorcycle operator with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or higher.

Selected community volunteers consumed various amounts of alcohol and were tested by police officers to demonstrate the intoxicating effects of alcohol and how these effects relate to driving. The field sobriety tests demonstrated included the horizontal gaze nystagmus eye test, the walk and turn test, and the one-leg stand test. There was also a demonstration of the effectiveness of the ignition interlock devise, which did not allow the car to start when the impaired participants attempted to blow into the devise.

According to FARS, the Labor Day holiday period is historically the second deadliest on Oregon roads of all the holiday periods throughout the year. Last year’s deadly crashes in Oregon
occurred on roadways in nearly every corner of the state including Clackamas, Multnomah, Washington, Coos, Grant, Harney and Yamhill counties. Lane County Sheriff Russ Burger, who was also in attendance, shared with MADD that Lane County currently holds half of the statewide totals to date, of all fatal traffic crashes and of those, half are caused by impaired driving. Statewide, alcohol impaired crashes account for about 34% off all fatal traffic crashes.


“Make no mistake. Our message is simple and to the point. No matter what you drive — a passenger car, pickup, sport utility vehicle or motorcycle — if you get caught driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, you will be arrested,” said Chuck Hayes, chair of the Governor’s Advisory Committee on DUII and retired director of the Oregon State Police Patrol Services Division. “Driving under the influence is just not acceptable.” Last year during the Labor Day holiday period, August 29 – September 1, Oregon State Police troopers reported 87 DUII arrests. This was an increase from the 2007 and 2006 Labor Day holiday weekends when OSP troopers arrested 78 intoxicated drivers each year.

MADD Community Action Sites in Douglas and Clackamas Counties will also be supporting Labor Day Crackdown efforts in their communities over the holiday weekend. MADD supports high visibility enforcement as part of it’s Campaign To Eliminate Drunk Driving.