Wyoming Highway Patrol Talks Safety for Labor Day

We all know the phrase “Drive sober or get pulled over.” As a long Labor Day weekend approaches, Wyoming Highway Patrol reminds drivers the phrase isn’t just about getting pulled over; it’s a matter of life and death.

In Wyoming, 61 people were killed in crashes involving drivers under the influence last year. Those 61 people represented almost half of Wyoming’s traffic fatalities, at 45 percent. 

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Nationally, one person died in a drunk-driving-related crash every 39 minutes in 2021. 13,384 people lost their lives due to drunk driving, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Association. More than 11,000 people have been killed every year for the last four years.

That’s the entire population of Green River or Evanston. It’s a lot of unnecessary tragedy.

The WHP urges drivers during the long Labor Day weekend to make driving plans ahead of time, before becoming or contributing to these statistics. They will be operating in “high visibility enforcement”  to decrease drunk driving during their “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign through Sept. 4.  

The WHP provided further statistics today in their news release regarding their extra patrol during the holiday weekend:

• During the 2021 Labor Day holiday period there were 531 crash fatalities nationwide. Of these 531 traffic crash fatalities, 41% involved a drunk driver
•  and more than a quarter (27%) involved drivers who were driving with a BAC almost twice the legal limit (.15+ BAC).
• Among drivers between the ages of 18 and 34 who were killed in crashes over the Labor Day holiday period in 2021, 48% of those drivers were drunk, with BACs of .08 or higher. 

“The Drive Sober campaign is an awareness effort to get the message out that drunk driving is illegal and it takes lives. Let’s make this a partnership between law enforcement and drivers: Help us protect the community and put an end to this senseless behavior,” Colonel Cameron said.

Wyoming law enforcement would like to remind everyone that there are plenty of options for impaired drivers to get home safely:

- Take public transportation or find someone else to drive you home. Don't risk hurting yourself or others by getting behind the wheel when you've been drinking.

- Use ride-share services like Lyft or Uber instead of driving yourself home after a night out.

- If you see a suspected drunk driver on the road, contact local law enforcement immediately.