Provided by the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office:
Credit: Tom Sofield/NewtownPANow.com
Police from eight Bucks County departments will usher in the most heavily traveled Thanksgiving in almost a decade with roving DUI patrols along the Street Road corridor Wednesday night.
Beginning at 10 p.m. on Thanksgiving Eve, 21 officers from Bensalem, Middletown, Solebury, Upper Southampton, Warrington and Warwick Townships, as well as Newtown and Penndel Boroughs, will patrol the four-lane thoroughfare from Bensalem to Warrington, as well as its feeder streets, until approximately 3 a.m. Thursday. The Warminster Township Police Department has agreed to serve as a booking station.
The saturation patrol is the first in a year-long series of enforcement actions planned by Bucks County’s DUI Task Force. The effort is largely funded by a continuing federal safety grant administered through the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
A similar task force patrol along Street Road last Thanksgiving Eve resulted in the arrest of 10 motorists on suspicion of driving under the influence. One person was charged with a drug offense and another was arrested on an outstanding warrant.
Street Road is among Bucks County’s most accident-prone roads, and Thanksgiving Eve is one of the most hazardous nights to be driving.
AAA Mid-Atlantic predicts that more people will be traveling this weekend than on any Thanksgiving since 2007. Approximately 569,000 Philadelphia-area residents are expected to travel at least 50 miles from home this weekend, about 89 percent of them by vehicle.
Many of those motorists will be setting out on their travels on Thanksgiving Eve. In addition, many out-of-town visitors and college students who are home for the holidays will be out celebrating and reconnecting with longtime friends.
That revelry can turn deadly when drugs or too much alcohol are added to the mix.
In 2014, 9,967 people died in crashes involving at least one intoxicated driver, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In Pennsylvania, the Thanksgiving weekend was the third-deadliest holiday period in 2015, with 21 traffic deaths and 1,428 crashes, according to PennDOT.
District Attorney Matthew Weintraub emphasized that deterring motorists from driving impaired is the main goal, but that anyone found to be drunk or under the influence of drugs will be arrested.
“Thanksgiving Eve has historically been among the worst for DUI incidents across the county and the country,” Weintraub said. “By publicizing and operating this roving DUI task force countywide, we hope to accomplish three goals: prevention, deterrence and public protection.
“It’s simple,” the D.A. said. “Have fun; just don’t drink and drive.”
