Shenandoah National Park will participate in the Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over high-visibility enforcement period.
Through September 4, the park’s law enforcement will work with National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to decrease impaired driving. Park visitors will see rangers at designated checkpoints along Skyline Drive to take drunk drivers off roads.
In 2021, 13,384 Americans were killed in drunk-driving crashes, according to NHTSA, which is one individual every 39 minutes. More than 11,000 were killed on average in drunk driving crashes every year between 2017 and 2021. The park will work with NHTSA to remind drivers that drunk driving is not only illegal, it is a matter of life and death. Fines of up to $5,000 and up to six months in prison are possible for violators of the park’s drug-impaired driving laws, as well as revocation of driving privileges.
“We want Park visitors to understand that it’s our first priority to keep people safe,” Shenandoah Park Chief Ranger Cynthia Sirk-Fear said. “The Drive Sober campaign is an awareness effort to get the message out that drunk driving is illegal, and it takes lives.”
Drunk driving on Skyline Drive should be reported by calling 1-800-732-0911.
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Rebecca Barnabi
