Nebraska Rolls Out Drunk Driving Awareness Campaign and Reporting Tips

Posted on July 25, 2012

No matter where you live, you’ve no doubt seen safety campaigns targeting various forms of dangerous behavior.  Perhaps some of the most important such educational efforts are those that aim to improve road safety.  These campaigns will necessarily have varying degrees of success, which is why it’s always refreshing to see somewhat unique campaigns that are sure to raise awareness.  A new report illustrates one such campaign.

In Nebraska, a campaign has been launched in the hopes that drivers can learn about the dangers associated with drunk driving.  The Nebraska Office of Highway Safety is behind the campaign, which will disperse delivery service vehicles all across the state to raise awareness.  In a unique twist, these trucks will feature images and text on their sides asking motorists to report drunk drivers.

The trucks will drive along Nebraska roads over the next two months, and along the way, they’ll hit almost every county in the state.  It’s estimated that the dozen trucks being utilized will create 18 million plus impressions along the course of their journey.  The Nebraska Highway Safety Administrator says the effort harkens back to similar measures conducted in the 1980s, when Nebraska initiated their decade-long Report Every Drunk Driver Immediately (REDDI) campaign.

The campaign already has the approval of the Nebraska Highway Patrol and various other law enforcement districts, such as the North Platte Police Department.  A spokesperson for the former stated that his specific department (Troop D, also in North Platte) favors a combination of engineering, enforcement, and EMS to go along with the educational efforts.  He stated that enforcement and apprehension are preferable to investigation, because a fatality or injury has to have already occurred for an investigation to take place, whereas enforcement is preventative.

It’s good to hear, then, that the state has enforcement covered as well.  Beginning August 17, a statewide enforcement campaign known as “You Drink & Drive, You Lose” will go into effect.  It lasts until August 3.

The report also goes on to provide drivers with safety tips should they spot a vehicle that they believe is being piloted by an intoxicated driver.  First, stay as far away from the vehicle as you can, as you don’t want their poor driving to imperil your commute.  That’s the same reason that you don’t want to take things into your own hands by trying to pull over the driver.  Leave that to the authorities.

If you have a passenger with you, request that they mark down the license plate number.  When it’s safe to do so, call 911 and inform police officials of the situation, placing particular emphasis on where you are, the type of car the potential offender is driving, the type of erratic behavior, and their likely direction of travel.

Between raising awareness, offering tips, and increasing enforcement efforts, hopefully roads can become safer for everyone.

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