St. Lawrence County police agencies and St. Lawrence County STOP-DWI will participate in special efforts to crack down on impaired driving during this upcoming long weekend.

The statewide STOP-DWI High Visibility Engagement Campaign starts July 3, and ends July 7.

The week of July 4 is historically a deadly period for impaired driving. This year the Fourth of July falls on a Thursday so heavy traveling is expected to begin on Wednesday, July 3.

Americans love to celebrate the Fourth of July with family, friends, food and fireworks, but all too often the festivities turn tragic on the nation's roads. The fact is this iconic American holiday is also one of the deadliest holidays of the year due to impaired-driving crashes.

“Summer is by far the most deadly period for impaired crashes. Several factors play a role in this statistic. One factor being that during the late spring/early summer, we have many events that fall into the category of “high risk” for impaired driving. Those events include: prom, college graduations, high school graduations, July 4th and Labor Day. St. Lawrence County STOP DWI has been working hard this spring to educate local youth about the dangers of impaired driving. During the month of May STOP DWI put on/assisted with five Mock DWI Crashes at various schools in the county” said STOP DWI Coordinator, Melissa Button.

The STOP-DWI July 4th High Visibility Engagement Campaign is one of many statewide initiatives promoted by STOP-DWI NY and the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee.  The Statewide STOP-DWI High Visibility Engagement Campaign also targets Memorial Day, Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Holiday Season, Super Bowl weekend and St. Patrick’s Day.

Highly visible, highly publicized efforts like the STOP-DWI High Visibility Engagement Campaign aim to further reduce the incidence of drunk and impaired driving.

You can help to make a difference by Having a Sober Plan! Impaired driving is completely preventable.  All it takes is a little planning.