The Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office and Idaho Falls Police Department have joined agencies across the state in participating in the Idaho Transportation Department’s Impaired Driving Mobilization through the holiday season. Since the mobilization began on December 11th, the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office has had 14 Driving Under the Influence Cases and the Idaho Falls Police have had 12, all ranging in a variety of circumstances from traffic stops to vehicle crashes and at all times of the day. Our joint dispatch center receives calls from the public reporting possibly intoxicated drivers every day that our local Law Enforcement attempt to intercept before someone gets hurt.
On this final day of 2019, as you make your plans to celebrate and bring in the New Year, the Idaho Falls Police Department and Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office remind you to include in those plans a safe ride home. Our area has a variety of ride services available, the cost of which is significantly less than being involved in a crash, getting yourself or others injured, or being arrested. Many of our Impaired Driving cases involve people who have only had a couple of drinks and are buzzed but chose to drive and ended up in a crash that could have been avoided.
Do the smart thing, celebrate responsibly and don’t get behind the wheel of a vehicle if you’ve been drinking alcoholic beverages or using illegal drugs. Watch out for your friends and others who try to drive while intoxicated and help them avoid a catastrophe. As always with this or any other criminal or dangerous activity, we encourage the public to call and report it to your local law enforcement agency.
The Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office and Idaho Falls Police Department extend our thanks to those who report intoxicated drivers and help us get them off the road, along with the many others we don’t hear about who choose to avoid impaired driving or help others avoid it. We wish everyone to have a safe and enjoyable celebration as we cross into the New Year.
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