Latest Traffic Offensive in Michigan Busts Thousands of Offenders

It looks like the recent "Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over" campaign was a pretty successful one.  Officers from 150 departments across the state say they busted nearly 15,000 drivers during the end-of-summer traffic safety crackdown.

Statistics from the Michigan State Police and the Office of Highway Safety Planning found a wide range of offenders during the highly publicized sweep from August 15th through the long Labor Day holiday weekend.

The numbers indicate that of the vehicles stopped, just over 4,500 drivers were cited for seat belt violations, nearly 1,200 received tickets for speeding, about 1,500 others were cited for either driving with a suspended license or failing to have insurance, and 169 drivers were arrested for driving under the influence.

A Genesee County man was taken into custody for a number of violations including super drunk driving with a blood alcohol content of 0.34...

A Muskegon motorist was arrested for smoking marijuana with a 7-month-old in the car.

And a traffic stop in Wexford resulted in three fugitives being taken into custody.

The official breakdown looks like this:

14,876 vehicles stopped

4,507 seat belt violators

1,192  speeding

550 driving with a suspended license

877 uninsured

342 fugitives arrested

277 other misdemeanor arrests

169 drunk driving

37 with a BAC of 0.17 or higher

The arrests despite publicity of the campaign and warnings of zero-tolerance.

"Dedicated officers from police agencies across the state are committed to helping motorists get home safely by taking a zero-tolerance approach to drunk driving," said Michael Prince, director of the Michigan Office of OHSP.

"Motorists were warned to drive sober or get pulled over and more than 150 drivers failed to heed that advice."

The campaign's beefed up enforcement, which is funded in part with federal dollars, is part of the Michigan Strategic Highway Safety Plan signed into law by Governor Snyder in 2013.

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