Law enforcement discusses drunk driving during holiday
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on June 29, 2016 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/ETHAN SMITH
North Carolina Governor's Highway Safety Program Director Don Nail discussed the effectiveness of Operation Firecracker at a press conference Monday.
State and local law enforcement held a press conference Monday afternoon at the Public Safety Officers Memorial at Wayne Community College to discuss Operation Firecracker -- an operation that began June 24 and will run through July 5 that targets drunk drivers during the week of July 4.
Law enforcement will be targeting drunk drovers during the campaign and setting up numerous sobriety checkpoints across the state and in Wayne County to get drunk drivers off the roads.
Since Operation Firecracker began 10 years ago, there have been more than one million arrests and 366,000 sobriety checkpoints during the campaign across the state.
"Our ultimate goal is to have zero fatalities on our roadways," said N.C. Governors Highway Safety Program Director Don Nail.
But there is a long way to go until that goal is achieved.
In 2015, the state had 1,377 fatalities on the roadways, 405 of which were alcohol related.
Thus far in 2016, there have been 142 alcohol related fatalities.
Over the course of the past 10 years, there has only been 150 days where there has not been a traffic fatality -- alcohol related or otherwise -- on the more than 80,000 miles of roadway in North Carolina.
"We do face a daunting challenge, and we want to do everything we can to increase the number of fatality-free days here in North Carolina," Nail said.
Wayne County Sheriff Larry Pierce said Operation Firecracker was especially important for Wayne County, as it is the 10th deadliest county in the state for alcohol related fatalities.
From 2010 to 2014, Wayne County averaged nearly eight alcohol related traffic fatalities per year, with 2014 being the deadliest year at 12 alcohol related fatalities on the roadways.
"Sometimes people ask, 'Why is the sheriff's office working traffic enforcement?' I ask why not," Pierce said. "It doesn't matter the color of the uniform or the shape of the badge, we as law enforcement officers need to work together to stop the crashes, to stop the underage drinking and to ensure our children and our spouses and our friends arrive alive."
With Wayne County being one of the deadliest in the state for alcohol related crashes, Pierce said that the responsibility of preventing drunk driving falls on the shoulders of everyone.
"We are all affected by drunk drivers in some way. If a drunk driver makes the decision to operate a vehicle whole impaired, it is all of us that have a responsibility to act," Pierce said. "As we approach this July 4 holiday season, I pray that it will be safe for all of our family and friends, and I pray that our officers will be safe as we carry out this vital mission of attacking our county's DWI problem."
Seymour Johnson Air Force Base 4th Security Forces Squadron Staff Sgt. James Marks also gave remarks Monday afternoon to discuss the base's program of Airmen Against Drunk Driving, where airmen stationed in Goldsboro can call a designated number on Friday and Saturday nights and have fellow airmen come pick them up from bars.
Marks said this is only one way airmen are encouraged to have a plan on how to get home if they decide to go out and drink.
"In the Air Force, we share the responsibility of looking after our fellow airmen and making sure that we are taking care of each other so we make it home safely," Marks said. "We teach our airmen that if you choose to drink, have a plan. In every case of drunk driving that happens in our community, the common thread is that individuals who decided to get behind the wheel did not have a plan."
Goldsboro Police Chief Mike West and a victim of drunk driving, Kelli Davis, were scheduled to attend Monday's event but were not present.