LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — Police in Lancaster County are amping up DUI enforcement over the Thanksgiving holiday, notoriously the most popular drinking period of the year, the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office said Wednesday.
Last year in Pennsylvania, there were more alcohol-related vehicle crashes over Thanksgiving than any other holiday period, according to the Pa. DUI Association.
Roving patrols – mobile officers on the roads targeting signs of impaired driving – will be deployed in Lancaster County throughout the holiday and ensuing weekend, the DA's Office said. The Lancaster County DUI Task Force is conducting the operations in conjunction with the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office.
Drug Recognition Experts – police investigators trained to detect drivers impaired by drugs – will be available as part of the enforcement plan. Drug-related DUIs make up more than a quarter of all DUI charges in Lancaster County, according to the DA's Office.
Last year, 429 DUI charging dockets involved a drug-impaired driver, out of 1,623 total DUI dockets in the county. This year, despite a considerable decrease in filed DUI charges during the COVID-19 outbreak from April through June, local police have filed over 1,100 DUI charges.
"Our office encourages anyone planning to drink alcohol over the holiday to have a sober driver plan," the DA's Office said. "Arrange that with a friend, relative or taxi/rideshare service."
Sobriety checkpoints, roving DUI patrols, and other enforcement activities organized as part of the Center for Traffic Safety’s impaired driving program are funded with federal highway safety grants provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, and are established on sections of roadway which have proven to be high incidence for impaired drivers both in terms of crashes and arrests.
