OP Police urge residents to ‘Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over’

(Aug. 14, 2020) Ocean Pines Police and neighboring agencies from across the State of Maryland are promoting "Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over" programs in August and September.  

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), nearly 30 people in the U.S. die each day in drunken driving crashes. Drunken driving crashes claim more than 10,000 lives each year and damages related to the crashes cost roughly $44 billion.  

For drivers, NHTSA said alcohol can reduce visual functions, coordination, concentration, and the ability to maintain lane position and brake appropriately.  

In every state, it’s illegal to drive with a blood alcohol content of .08 or higher. According to the CDC, that represents about four drinks in one hour for a 160-pound male. However, impairment can begin after just two drinks. 

According to nhtsa.gov, “Driving after drinking is deadly. Yet it still continues to happen across the United States. If you drive while impaired, you could get arrested, or worse — be involved in a traffic crash that causes serious injury or death.”  

Ocean Pines Police Chief Leo Ehrisman said the "Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over" initiative is part of a state grant program focused on reducing drunken driving, which will help pay for added patrols in the community. 

"The funding [for extra patrols] doesn't have to come from the citizens of this community," he said. "In trade for that, I have to show where I used that money and that I put additional officers in the community, just to focus on that initiative. 

“We have to send those results back to show [the state] that, yes, we did use your grant money, here's what we used it for, and here's the results that we got,” Ehrisman continued. “The whole purpose is showing the results that, ‘hey, it was worth getting it, because here's what we did.’” 

Ocean Pines Police were involved in 30 drunken driving cases last year. 

Ehrisman said, in general, the biggest concerns are people who come from outside the community to attend local or regional events, and then drive drunk back into Ocean Pines.  

"All these people come here to go to these events, and they wind up driving [drunk] through town," he said. "Nine times out of ten, it's not the local guy that went over and had a few drinks at Taylor's, it's not the guy that had a few beers at the Yacht Club at dinner, and it’s not the guy that went to their neighbor's house and just had a few drinks.  

“We're talking about the people that are hammered coming from an event where they've been to the beach all day, or they've been partying on the Boardwalk all night and now it's 2 o'clock in the morning. We're lucky they got this far without killing themselves or someone else,” Ehrisman continued. "Nine times out of ten it's people coming home from a bar, and they should have just taken a cab and come home, and now they're a danger to everybody in this community.” 

Twice this year, he said, police have found cars upside down on the North Gate Bridge.  

"They tried to make it across the bridge and didn't line it up quite right, and the car winds up upside down on the bridge," he said. 

To help avoid the dangers of drunken driving, Ehrisman said most local bars and restaurants will help a patron find a ride home if they've had too much to drink. 

"You have to realize, the establishments don't want their reputations tarnished – they don't want it put in the paper that some guy just left their business a half hour ago and now they've killed someone," he said. "They'll do what they can. They offer cab rides and some of them even offer to pay for a cab or call a friend. I know there's a couple places in Ocean City that will even have employees drive you home. 

"To look at it from a law enforcement point of view, there are so many options to not getting a DWI. If you know you're having more than a few drinks or you're having more than you anticipated, there's so many options that you can do to not get a DWI. You can call a cab; you can call a friend. But whatever you do, don’t get behind the wheel of a car.” 

Ehrisman said DWI charges often lead to higher insurance rates and, in some cases, loss of a driver’s license. Many will also have costly legal bills, or even jail time. 

"Hopefully, they didn't wreck their car. Hopefully, they don't have a tow bill. And, most importantly, hopefully they didn't hurt someone else, not to mention themselves," he said.   

To download a drunken driving fact sheet for the State of Maryland, visit https://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/pdf/impaired_driving/Drunk_Driving_in_MD.pdf.  

For more information, visit https://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety.