Impaired driving enforcement planned || DWI attorney

Impaired driving enforcement planned

Sentinel photos by TOM LAUB
Officials address the media during the Saint Patrick’s Day Impaired Driving Enforcement Mobilization press conference Thursday at the Mifflin County Courthouse. Pictured are, from left, Officer Nick Hamler of the Granville Township Police Department, Chief Andre French of the Mifflin County Regional Police Department, Mifflin County District Attorney Christopher Torquato and Mifflin County Assistant District Attorney Jerry Wagner.

LEWISTOWN — Local law enforcement and several safety partners held a joint press conference Thursday morning to offer details for the upcoming holiday weekend.

Mifflin County Law Enforcement, PennDOT, the Mifflin County District Attorney’s Office, the Mifflin County DUI Task Force and the Highway Safety Network discussed the Saint Patrick’s Day Impaired Driving Enforcement Mobilization during a briefing at the Mifflin County Courthouse.

Impaired driving incidents and related crashes have risen steadily in Mifflin County over the past several years. The combined goal through the Saint Patrick’s Day weekend is to prevent DUI-related crashes and save lives.

“PennDOT is utilizing outreach and education to show the public how dangerous this issue has become,” Timothy Nebgen, PennDOT Safety Press Officer, said.

Mifflin County District Attorney Christopher Torquato has seen impaired driving cases rise steadily in a very short period of time.

“DUI is one of the most prevalent crimes perpetrated in Mifflin County,” he said. “Almost 25 percent of the criminal cases my office has prosecuted over the past four years are DUI-related. It’s incredibly disheartening to see when DUI is easily preventable by planning ahead and designating a sober driver.”

The DUI rate has continued to rise despite tougher penalties.

“Multiple convictions can result in felony charges and a state prison sentence,” Torquato said.

Enforcement activities for the DUI Task Force mobilization will be conducted March 10 through April 22 on Route 22/322, Route 22/522 South, Route 522 North, Route 655, Route 103 North and other county roadways. The joint campaign will include simultaneous aggressive driving and impaired driving enforcement. Aggressive driving and impaired driving crashes are significant contributors to traffic injuries and deaths in Mifflin County, especially during nighttime hours.

“The program for Saint Patrick’s Day is an initiative that must keep pounding the drum,” Assistant District Attorney Jerry Wagner said. “DUIs are increasing. Things are not getting better.”

Officer Nick Hamler of the Granville Township Police Department and one of the coordinators for the Mifflin County DUI Task Force agrees.

“In the course of the last nine years they [DUIs] are on the rise significantly,” Hamler said. “We have had a big rise since this past November. Not necessarily fatal DUIs, but DUI crashes and DUI while under the influence of drugs.”

Though alcohol is still involved in many impaired driving incidents, law enforcement has seen a combination of illegal components rising at an alarming rate.

“The uptick we have seen seems to involve more DUIs involving controlled substances,” Torquato said. “People using illegal substances be it methamphetamine, cocaine or fentanyl is one aspect of it. The other aspect is people operating vehicles while they have marijuana in their system. People may assume if they have a medical marijuana card and they are permitted to use it and they are using it properly, it is business as usual. However, it is still illegal to get behind the wheel and drive when you have marijuana in your system. A large number of the DUIs we are seeing now involve the marijuana aspect. Alcohol is still a problem, but marijuana is catching up to alcohol as the substance people have in their body when they are pulled over for driving under the influence.”

The task force plans to conduct high visibility enforcement details including roving patrols and sobriety checkpoints during the St. Patrick’s Day mobilization. Officers will offer zero tolerance to impaired drivers encountered during enforcement details. Offenders will be arrested and prosecuted.

According to preliminary 2022 PennDOT data, there were 313 crashes involving an impaired driver in Pennsylvania between Friday, March 11, and 6 a.m. Sunday, March 20. There were four fatalities in those crashes.

“These funds allow us to flood the streets with police officers,” Andre French, Mifflin County Regional Police Chief, said. “Our goal is prevention. We’d rather not have any DUI arrests made. We are out there to keep the streets safe. DUI drivers pose a threat to themselves and the motoring public. There has been tragedy after tragedy locally in the past several years. Our goal is to keep everybody safe.”

For more information on the dangers and consequences of impaired driving, visit www.penndot.pa.gov/safety and https://padui.org/.

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