By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
In the case of drunk driving the numbers only tell part of the story.
Sandy Wiechman, coordinator of Safe Communities of Wood County, shared some of those numbers at the kick off for the 2022 Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over national mobilization.
- A third of fatal traffic crashes involve drunk drivers – those with a blood alcohol content over .08 percent.
- In 2020, one person was killed every 45 minutes in a crash involving a drunk driver.
- In 2020, 21 percent of children 14 and younger who were traffic fatalities died in crashes involving a drunk driver.
- From 2016 through 2020, 8 percent of the drunk drivers who were involved in fatal crashes already had one or more OVI convictions.
- Males were more likely than females to be drunk when involved in a fatal crash. Of drivers in fatal crashes, 22 percent are males driving impaired, while 16 percent are females driving impaired.
Lt. Jordan Schowchow said that behind every one of those numbers are families that have suffered a tragic loss. “That’s something we really need to focus on,” he said.
The prevalence of drunk driving stops eased somewhat during the pandemic, he said. With so many bars closed or with restricted hours, more people were drinking at home. Now, though, the numbers are starting to tick back up.
As he and other state troopers were speaking with the press in a parking lot across from the Kuhlin Center on the BGSU campus, others were getting ready to set up an OVI checkpoint nearby on East Wooster Street.
Staff Lt. Matt Crow said the checkpoints were not so much to catch violators as much as to make a statement that law enforcement was on the lookout for offenders.
Other agencies, including the Bowling Green Police Division and the Wood County Sheriff’s Office, were also engaged in enhanced patrols with the specific goal to catch drunk drivers during the mobilization that lasts through Labor Day weekend.
“We’re all working together to get impaired drivers off the road,” Crow said
Those planning to go to family gatherings and imbibe in alcoholic beverages should plan to have a safe way to get home, Crow said.
Making the wrong decision could cause tragedy for themselves and another family.
Don’t end the holiday with a tragedy, Wiechman said.
On Sunday, the state patrol reported that on Friday night, 1,084 vehicles drove through the checkpoint and were checked. Four vehicles were diverted for suspected impairment.
Following the checkpoint, officers and troopers worked a saturation patrol in and around the city of Bowling Green. During the saturation patrol, 65 traffic stops were made. Seven OVI arrests were reported during this time.
Officers from the Bowling Green Police Department, Bowling Green State University Police Department, Wood County Sheriff’s Department, as well as troopers from the Bowling Green Post, participated in the OVI checkpoint.
