Statewide Drunken Driving Crackdown July 1 Includes Livingston County Agencies

This story was reported and written by Nicole Krawcke and John McKay

Your Fourth of July party plans could be a dud this year, if you decide to hit the road after drinking.

Law enforcement officials from 156 agencies and 26 counties, including here in Livingston County, are putting extra officers on the road beginning Monday, July 1, as part of "Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over," a statewide drunk-driving crackdown.

The effort, funded with federal money administered by the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning (OHSP), runs through July 7. The OHSP says alcohol-related traffic fatalities are highest in the months of July and August.  But do you know how many drinks you can have before you're in danger of getting a drunken driving violation?

When police pull drivers over for suspected drunken driving, officers ask them to perform field sobriety tests and to take a breath test to measure Blood Alcohol Content. A BAC test measures the percentage of alcohol present in a person's bloodstream. In Michigan .08 is the legal limit.

According to the Virginia Tech Alcohol Abuse Prevention website, every 40 minutes, 0.01 percent of alcohol leaves your system. Take a look at the attached charts to see how many is too many to get behind the wheel, based on your gender, height and weight.

However, police still can arrest someone who falls short of registering a .08 if their driving ability is clearly impaired by having consumed alcohol.

As the chart indicates, a .00 is the only "safe" driving limit.

Options available to avoid drunken driving

• Don’t drink and drive.
• Plan a safe way home before festivities begin.
• Designate your sober driver before the party starts.
• If you’re impaired, call a taxi, sober friend or family member, or use public transportation (many local bars will call for cab services).
• If you see a drunk driver on the road, contact local law enforcement.
• If you know someone who is about to drive while impaired, take their keys and help them make other arrangements to get to their destination safely.