You’ve probably already noticed an increased presence of state troopers on Virginia highways and interstates. It’s by design: to make sure that as many of us as possible get through the holidays.
“This holiday season, Virginians have the opportunity to make a responsible choice that can save lives: a safe ride home for someone who has been drinking,” said our lame-duck MAGA governor, Glenn Youngkin, who isn’t wrong about everything – this being one of the handful of things he’s not wrong about.
ICYMI
Through next week, Virginia State Police and local law enforcement agencies are participating in the holiday wave of our “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign.
You’ve been warned: you’ll see saturation patrols and sobriety checkpoints across the Commonwealth.
Beware the extra nip of the old eggnog.
“Every drunk driving fatality, injury, crash and arrest is 100 percent preventable,” Youngkin said, and again, not wrong, on this one.
The press release from the governor’s office included this mind-boggling stat: in 2024, 318 people lost their lives in alcohol-related crashes in Virginia, representing an 8.5 percent increase from the year before.
The long-term trend prior to last year was a steady decline in drunk-driving deaths.