Expect to find more sobriety checkpoints near Georgetown thanks to something called “Operation Strikeforce”. This message was sent through D.C.’s text alert system:
(Washington, DC) The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) joined the Metropolitan Police Department and police departments from Fairfax an Montgomery Counties to kick off Checkpoint Strikeforce, a regional six-month anti-drunk driving campaign.
Checkpoint Strikeforce was launched in the late afternoon on August 26 on Canal Road, just west of the Georgetown bars, with a sobriety checkpoint to intercept and deter happy hour drunk driving. Officers administered field sobriety tests, a key part of drunk driving dissuasion. The campaign features weekly checkpoints and extended hours in the District and a $320,000 radio campaign aimed at the hard-to-reach 21-to-35 male driver.
“Drinking and driving do not mix and this regional campaign, melding enhanced and targeted law enforcement with public education is the proven way to decrease alcohol-related traffic accidents and deaths,” said Dan Tangherlini, director of the Department of Transportation. “We want people to enjoy our city’s nightlife but not drink and drive; we must reduce alcohol-related crashes in the District, Maryland and Virginia … “
Read more about the effort in their “marketing communications plan.”
