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North Carolina To Launch Fall 'Booze It & Lose It' 1998

18 November 1998

North Carolina To Launch Fall 'Booze It & Lose It' 1998

         N.C. Law Enforcement To Crack Down On Impaired Driving Prior
                         To Busy Holiday Travel

    WHAT:      KICK OFF OF 1998 'BOOZE IT & LOSE IT' ANTI-IMPAIRED DRIVING
                CAMPAIGN
    WHEN:      2 p.m. FRIDAY, NOV. 20, 1998
    WHERE:     CHILDREN'S GARDEN, INTERSECTION OF WILMINGTON AND LANE STREETS,
                DOWNTOWN RALEIGH
    RAIN SITE: BENEATH TENT AT SAME LOCATION

    RALEIGH, N.C., Nov. 17 -- Lt. Gov. Dennis Wicker will launch
the fall 1998 "Booze It & Lose It" anti-driving while impaired (DWI) campaign
2 p.m., Friday, Nov. 20, in the Children's Garden at the intersection of
Wilmington and Lane streets in downtown Raleigh. Flanked by the state's two
BATmobiles and law enforcement officers from across the state,
Wicker will remind North Carolinians that it's "Booze It & Lose It" on the
state's roadways.
    During the campaign (Nov. 20-Dec. 6), North Carolina law enforcement
officers will begin stepped-up enforcement of DWI laws with sobriety
checkpoints and roving patrols across the state, before, during, and after the
busy holiday travel season.
    In case of rain, the event will be held at the Children's Garden location
beneath a tent.
    At the kickoff, Wicker will be joined by North Carolina Insurance
Commissioner Jim Long, Transportation Secretary Norris Tolson, Governor's
Highway Safety Program Director Joe Parker, and Durham County District
Attorney James Hardin, who successfully prosecuted a first-degree DWI murder
conviction.
    Wicker will give motorists notice that law enforcement officers will be
cracking down on drunk driving during the holiday season and that the state's
tough, new drunk driving laws take effect on Dec. 1. Last Thanksgiving
weekend, 22 people died in North Carolina highway crashes; three of those
fatalities were alcohol-related.
    Law enforcement officers from across the state will attend the "Booze It &
Lose It" launch in a show of support for heightened efforts to stop
alcohol-related deaths and injuries. City police agencies, county sheriffs'
offices, the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, and other state agencies
will join forces to strictly enforce the drunk driving laws. Sobriety
checkpoints will be held in communities across the state, including Asheville,
Charlotte, Fayetteville, Greensboro, Greenville, and Wilmington the weekend of
Nov. 20-22.
    Two breath-alcohol testing (BAT) mobile units, used by law enforcement
across the state, will be on display. The state's first BATmobile, coordinated
by the Forensic Tests for Alcohol Branch of the Department of Health and
Natural Resources, has been in action for more than two years. This year, the
North Carolina State Highway Patrol (NCSHP) has launched its own BATmobile,
which is being put into operation for the first time during "Booze It & Lose
It."
    In addition, North Carolina law enforcement officers will be participating
in the national "Operation ABC Mobilization: America Buckles Up Children" that
will run during the first week of "Booze It & Lose It," Nov. 23-29. At the
Nov. 20 event, a child safety seat demonstration will be conducted by the
NCSHP.
    The following events will take place during the first weekend of "Booze It
& Lose It":

Friday, Nov. 20, 1998
GREENSBORO
Checkpoint with NCSHP BATmobile
Time: 10 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Contact: Sgt. Ken Whitesell, Guilford County
Sheriff's Office, 336-373-3876

FAYETTEVILLE
Checkpoint with BATmobile
Time: 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Contact: 1st Sgt. D.C. Broome, North Carolina State
Highway Patrol, 910-486-1334

Saturday, Nov. 21, 1998
ASHEVILLE
Checkpoint
Time: 10 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Contact: Sgt. Faye Harper, Asheville Police
Department, 828-251-4910

CHARLOTTE
Checkpoint with NCSHP BATmobile
Time: 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Contact: Capt. Larry Blydenburg, Charlotte-
Mecklenburg Police Department, 704-336-4197

GREENVILLE
Checkpoint with BATmobile
Time: 11 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Contact: Capt. John Ennis, Greenville Police
Department, 252-329-4330

WILMINGTON
Checkpoint
Time: Starting at 9 p.m.
Contact: Cpl. Jim Hager, New Hanover County
Sheriff's Office, 910-341-4286