While drunken driving remains a top concern of law enforcement, especially over the Fourth of July holiday, authorities say they are seeing an emerging trend in drivers who shouldn’t be behind the wheel — an increasing number of them are impaired because of drugs rather than alcohol.
DUI arrests due to drugs other than alcohol continue to climb, now accounting for about 50 percent of all impaired driving arrests in Pennsylvania, according to the state Department of Transportation.
Of the 52,382 DUI arrests in the state last year, 26,832 were for drugs other than alcohol, an increase of 6,141 from 2014, PennDOT said Monday6/27 at a news briefing it held in anticipation of the Independence Day weekend, which routinely brings an increase in impaired driving.
PennDOT officials were joined in Mt. Lebanon by representatives of the Pennsylvania DUI Association and the Mt. Lebanon Police Department to talk about stepped-up efforts to protect the public from impaired drivers and how individuals can protect themselves.
The efforts are part of a national mobilization that started June 24 and runs through Monday.
The arrests stemming from a DUI checkpoint held recently to prepare for the July 4 holiday confirmed the prevalence of drug-impaired drivers, according to Lt. Duane Fisher of the Mt. Lebanon Police Department.
“In the course of [the checkpoint], we made 18 arrests, 14 of which were DUI related,” Lt. Fisher said. “We saw that over half of these arrests were DUI-drug arrests, where it was marijuana or prescription drugs.”
Over the Fourth of July holiday period last year, 35 people were killed in 2,909 crashes in Pennsylvania, said Yasmeen Manyisha, safety press officer with PennDOT. Of those fatalities, 15 were due to impaired driving from either alcohol or drugs.
Lt. Fisher said his department is conducting DUI checkpoints in various locations during the holiday period and police departments throughout Allegheny County are doing the same.
“All across the state, there will be PennDOT-funded sobriety checkpoints,” said Stephen Erni, executive director of the Pennsylvania DUI Association.
“We’re not saying that you aren’t supposed to have fun or enjoy yourself,” Mr. Erni said. “Just plan ahead. If you’re hosting a party, just keep in mind that PA laws will be affecting you as a host or server if you are serving too much alcohol or letting individuals that are clearly intoxicated get on the road.”
PennDOT also offered these suggestions to avoid a tragedy caused by impaired driving:
• Have everyone in a vehicle wear a seat belt. PennDOT described seat belts as the “first defense against an impaired driver.”
• Always designate a sober driver if alcohol is part of your holiday plans.
• Never mix alcohol with medications if you will be driving.
Lily Oppenheimer: loppenheimer@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1937.
First Published: July 2, 2016, 4:33 a.m.