FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, August 28, 2015

Contact: Tony Mangan, 605-773-6196                                                              

South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota Agencies Plan Tri-State DUI Enforcement Campaign

PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota’s Highway Patrol is among several law enforcement agencies in three states participating in an effort to crack down on drunk drivers.

Officers from South Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota are part of the enforcement campaign announced Friday near Valley Springs, S.D. The effort is focused around next weekend’s Labor Day holiday.

More than 36,000 drivers are arrested for drunk driving in the three states each year. In 2014, the Iowa State Patrol made 1,450 such arrests, South Dakota arrested 9,450 and Minnesota more than 25,000 arrests. In the last five years (2010-2014), 1,215 people have died in drunk driving-related traffic crashes in the three states, including 239 in 2014 alone.

“Our agencies are poised and ready to take impaired drivers off the roads during this nationwide enforcement effort,” says Lt. Jeff DeVaney of the South Dakota Highway Patrol. “Local agencies are working together in our efforts to enforce the law and keep motorists safe.”

Law enforcement agencies in the South Dakota counties of Lincoln, Minnehaha and Moody also will participate. In those three counties from 2010-2014, 30 people were killed and 515 individuals seriously injured in alcohol related crashes.

Tips on how to prevent drunk driving include:

• Plan for a safe ride – designate a sober driver, use a cab/public transportation or stay at the location of the celebration.

• Offer to be a designated driver, or be available to pick up a loved one anytime, anywhere.
• Buckle up – the best defense against a drunk driver.
• Report drunk driving – call 911 when witnessing impaired driving behavior. Be prepared to provide location, license plate number and observed dangerous behavior.

The South Dakota Highway Patrol is part of the Department of Public Safety.

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