Oklahoma City-area drivers face heightened DUI enforcement through Sept. 7, as state and local agencies have deployed saturation patrols and checkpoints to catch impaired motorists during the Labor Day travel period.
The Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign, which launched Aug. 19, brings together the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, the Oklahoma Highway Safety Office and other agencies statewide in a coordinated push to reduce alcohol- and drug-related crashes, according to the Journal Record.
The stakes are real. Over Labor Day weekend in 2024, seven people were killed in crashes on Oklahoma roads. Five of those deaths were drug- or alcohol-related, KFOR reported.
"Whatever you're doing, whatever good time you're trying to go have, just be safe about it and make a plan," Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Chad Pape told KFOR.
Pape urged drivers to decide on a plan before they start drinking, rather than waiting until their judgment is impaired. He warned that one night of bad decisions can affect multiple lives for years.
What drivers should know
Enforcement tactics include DUI saturation patrols, where multiple officers concentrate on a specific area, and sobriety checkpoints. The campaign runs through the end of Labor Day, Sept. 7.
The Oklahoma Highway Safety Office recommends three alternatives to driving impaired:
- Designate a sober driver before going out
- Use a rideshare service such as Uber or Lyft
- Stay where you are until sober
Oklahoma Highway Safety Office Director Paul Harris called impaired driving "illegal, dangerous, deadly and entirely preventable," according to the Journal Record.
National numbers
Nationally, 11,904 people were killed in crashes involving an alcohol-impaired driver in 2024, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. During the 2024 Labor Day holiday period alone, 170 of those deaths involved an impaired driver. NHTSA estimates one person dies in a drunk-driving crash about every 44 minutes.
The Oklahoma City Police Department has not issued a separate statement about local enforcement operations for this campaign.
Drivers who see an impaired motorist on the road can call 911. Those needing a safe ride home can use rideshare apps or call a taxi.
