CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Those with the Governor’s Highway Safety Program have a message for West Virginians as we head into the summer months.
“If you’re going to be drinking, don’t be driving,” David Cook, law enforcement liaison for the Governor’s Highways Safety Program, recently told MetroNews.
“We’re starting the heavy travel season, more vehicles will be on the road. The weather’s nicer, people are doing recreational activities and things that, maybe, involve drinking and we want to remind people that drinking and driving don’t mix.”
Cook said one of the main focuses of law enforcement officers across West Virginia in the coming months will be on preventing, apprehending and — if necessary — convicting impaired drivers.
“Most people have gotten the message that it (impaired driving) is extremely dangerous, it can cost your life,” Cook said. “But now our message is there’s going to be a high probability you’re going to be caught because we’ve got officers everywhere — all the time.”
The annual Highway Enforcement Conference from the Governor’s Highway Safety Program was recently held at Glade Springs Resort in Beaver. Some of the best law enforcement officers in West Virginia were recognized there for their efforts to keep impaired drivers off the state’s roads.
The conference included new techniques to help law enforcement officers recognize, act and enforce impaired driving laws.
“If we can just convince people that this is not the right thing to do, make some other arrangements, other transportation if you get impaired, find another way to get home or stay where you are — prevention is obviously the best way to go,” Cook said.
The Governor’s Highway Safety Program is the lead agency for West Virginia’s participation in federally mandated and funded highway safety improvement measures.
The purpose is to encourage, promote and support safety throughout the state.