Beginning Monday, November 20, through Sunday, November 26, the Junction City Police Department will join many other police agencies across the state, including the Kansas Highway Patrol, in the Kansas Thanksgiving Safe Arrival traffic enforcement campaign. A grant from the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) will underwrite overtime enforcement efforts that specifically aim at removing impaired drivers from our roads and ticketing vehicle occupants who are unrestrained or whose child passengers are unrestrained.

According to KDOT, which tracks all crashes in the state, in comparison with other holidays, the Thanksgiving holiday period (Wednesday-Sunday) outranks all other major holidays (including the Super Bowl) in number of crashes in which driver impairment is cited as a factor. Those driving under the influence of alcohol or other drugs endanger not only themselves, but also others they share the road with – such as their passengers, other motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians. On average, across Kansas, three persons are injured every day, and one person is killed every three days in alcohol/drug-related crashes each day. And the crashes tend to be more severe. vehicle occupants in alcohol- or other drug-related crashes are over 2 ½ times more likely to be injured or killed than those involved in crashes where alcohol or other drugs were not a factor.

Each week across Kansas, over 250 drivers are arrested for DUI (Driving Under the Influence). A DUI conviction will result in jail time, the suspension or revocation of driver’s license, a fine of $500 to $2,500, participation in an alcohol or other drug treatment program and, where alcohol is cited as a contributing factor, the purchase and installation of an ignition interlock device in the offender’s vehicle. This device requires the offender to blow into a device that measures blood alcohol concentration prior to starting the car.