The big game is just days away and law enforcement agencies are urging people to celebrate responsibly.
With the Bengals in the Super Bowl, officials are expecting a big turnout of fans to area bars, restaurants, and family parties. If you do plan on drinking be sure and designate a sober driver. There will be extra enforcement out on the roadways cracking down on impaired drivers.
Sgt. Justin Powell with the Lima Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol says, “Enjoy the Super Bowl, have a good time. We have an Ohio team there being represented that is a wonderful thing. Have a good time. Nothing's wrong with drinking. Nothing’s wrong with driving. Just don’t do the two together. So, designate a driver, stay somewhere, call a cab. Call an Uber. Something like that. We just want you to get home safe.”
Drinking and driving is illegal and can be fatal. Last year the Ohio State Highway Patrol made 59 O-V-I arrests in a 24-hour period. There were 2 fatal crashes killing two people during that enforcement. Another 178 injuries were reported with 35 of those O-V-I related. Any O-V-I charge can change your life.
Powell again, “You could end up going to jail. You could end up losing your job, your insurance rates are going to go up drastically. A lot of really bad things will happen that will make your life a lot more difficult and that’s just a first offense. If it goes up from there, you start getting into multiple ones you could find yourself in prison.”
The public is encouraged to use #6-7-7 to report impaired drivers and drug activity.
