Maumee, others to set up sobriety checkpoints

8/30/2004

Maumee police will join other law enforcement agencies throughout the region in cracking down on drunken drivers over the Labor Day holiday.

The department has announced plans to set up a sobriety checkpoint later this week, although the details of the checkpoint will not be released until later.

Travel increases dramatically over the weekend, which marks the informal end to the summer vacation season.

Nearly 40 percent of the traffic fatalities in both Michgian and Ohio last year involved alcohol-related accidents. In Michigan, 481 people died in alcohol-related accidents, while 467 were killed in alcohol-related crashes in Ohio.

The National Highway Safety Administration has set a goal of lowering the number of alcohol-impaired fatalities to below 11,000 by 2005.