Statewide Campaign Goes After Alabama DUI Offenders

Governor adds extra troopers added to traffic safety campaign.

On Wednesday, Gov. Bob Riley and the state Public Safety Director announced an aggressive campaign against driving under the influence in Alabama. Titled ‘Take Back Our Highways’ the campaign calls for the addition of 125 state troopers in saturation patrols targeting drunk drivers.

The effort will be conducted between August 18-24, and it calls for Mississippi and Tennessee Highway Patrols to coordinate with Alabama state and local law enforcement agencies to increase highway safety.

The ‘Take Back Our Highways’ initiative was started last year and it led to a reduction in traffic accidents and deaths. While not all alcohol related, highway fatalities dropped by 62 in 2007.

The extra patrol officers will come from every rank and law enforcement division, including Driver License and ABI officers in uniform. The activities will include roving patrols, sobriety checkpoints and saturation patrols in high-traffic, high accident areas. The governor recently announced a $1.4 million grant to pay for nine mobile labs or ‘BAT Mobiles’ with breath testing equipment to speed up processing of suspected drunk drivers in Alabama. In addition to looking for Alabama DUI offenders, citations will be issued for seat belt and child restraint violations, speeding, tailgating and failure to yield the right of way.

If you have been arrested for drunk driving in Alabama, you need to hire an Alabama DUI Lawyer.