Police are bulking up efforts to stop impaired drivers in preparation for March Madness and St. Patrick’s Day, according to a Bloomington Police Department press release.
These expanded efforts will include random patrols, saturation patrols and sobriety checkpoints.
“In the last five years, St. Patrick’s Day has really exploded,” BPD Sgt. Dana Cole said.
The weekend of St. Patrick's Day in 2017 had the most crashes involving impaired drivers of the year, according to the release.
St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, falls on a Saturday this year.
Cole said he wanted to stress the importance of ride-sharing apps like Uber and Lyft for people who choose to drink. He encouraged people to plan their way home ahead of time.
BPD received 50 new portable breath tests in 2017 which remain in use this year, Cole said. These tests help indicate how much alcohol someone has consumed.
They’re especially useful when trying to determine if a minor had anything to drink, Cole said.
It is illegal to drive with a blood alcohol concentration of .08 percent or above anywhere in the United States.
If individuals under 21 are caught driving in Indiana with a BAC of at least .02 percent, they can be fined and their license can be suspended for up to a year.
Caroline Anders
