Lewistown, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT), the Mifflin County District Attorney’s Office, Mifflin County DUI Task Force, the Pennsylvania DUI Association (PA DUI) and Highway Safety Network held a press conference at the Mifflin County Courthouse today where they urged constituents to drive sober.
“DUI is a senseless crime that often results in tragedy,” said Mifflin County District Attorney Christopher Torquato. “No one should lose their life in this type of crash. They’re entirely preventable.”
Torquato said nearly a quarter of the criminal cases handled by his office over the past three years have been DUI related. He explained the average conviction for a first-time offender carries financial penalties ranging between $6,000 and $10,000 and a suspension of driving privileges for a period of up to 12 months. He also noted the legislature implemented harsher penalties on repeat DUI offenders in 2019. A fourth DUI offense in 10 years is now a felony, and a third DUI offense in 10 years may also be a felony, depending on the driver’s blood alcohol concentration.
Despite harsher consequences for homicide by vehicle while driving impaired, Torquato said he can recall at least half a dozen such cases filed in Mifflin County in recent memory. He implored everyone to never drive impaired and help reduce fatalities and serious injuries on our roadways.
Chief Andre French of the Mifflin County Regional Police Department said the Mifflin County DUI Task Force, which is comprised of his department, Armagh Township, Granville Township and Lewistown police departments, will conduct high visibility enforcement details including roving patrols and sobriety checkpoints during the St. Patrick’s Day Impaired Driving Enforcement Mobilization. That mobilization started Monday, March 4, and continues through Thursday, March 17. He said officers will offer zero tolerance to impaired drivers encountered during these enforcement details and that offenders will be arrested and prosecuted.
Craig Amos, Drug Recognition Expert with PA DUI, said the number of DUI arrests for drug impairment, prescription medication impairment, or a combination of the two continues to grow at an alarming rate. As such, he said PA DUI continues to offer Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE) classes that train officers to observe and identify the signs of impairment caused by the seven major drug categories. They also train drug recognition experts to recognize impairment in drivers under the influence of drugs other than, or in addition to, alcohol. Amos said there are currently more than 200 DREs certified in Pennsylvania.
According to preliminary PennDOT data, there were 213 crashes involving an impaired driver in Pennsylvania during the 2021 St. Patrick’s Day holiday period of 6:00 PM on Friday, March 12, through 6:00 AM on Thursday, March 18. There were nine fatalities in those crashes.
For more information on the dangers and consequences of impaired driving, visit www.PennDOT.pa.gov/safety or www.padui.org.
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