Oklahoma City law enforcement agencies are teaming up this weekend in an effort to crack down on drunk driving during the New Year’s Eve holiday. According to the Oklahoma Highway Safety Commission, the agencies taking part in the effort include the Oklahoma City Police Department, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office and …
Oklahoma City law enforcement agencies are teaming up this weekend in an effort to crack down on drunk driving during the New Year’s Eve holiday. According to the Oklahoma Highway Safety Commission, the agencies taking part in the effort include the Oklahoma City Police Department, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office and the Alcohol Beverage Laws Enforcement Commission. If you have been charged with a DUI or DWI offense in Oklahoma, your first course of action should be to enlist the help of a qualified defense attorney with experience handling drunk driving cases. With the help of our DUI defense lawyers at Oklahoma Legal Center, you can protect your legal rights and build a strong defense in your drunk driving case.
Drinking and Driving in Oklahoma
“Our message obviously is don’t drink and drive,” said said Toby Taylor, Impaired Driving Programs Coordinator for the Oklahoma Highway Safety Commission. According to State Trooper Betsy Randolph with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, “We’re doing nothing but DUI saturation patrols, which means we may pull you over, just because your headlight is out or we may pull you over for speeding.” Randolph warns that anyone pulled over in Oklahoma during New Year’s Eve could be subject to field sobriety tests.
“We know a lot of people have parties,” said Randolph. “They host parties, they attend parties, they consume alcohol, and then they choose to drive.” According to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, the metro area saw six fatalities related to drunk driving last year, a small decrease from eight DUI deaths the year before. Oklahoma officials are warning motorists to plan ahead and assign designated drivers when going out on New Year’s Eve, in order to avoid a DUI arrest or drunk driving accident. “If you could consume alcohol, and still drive with no problem, there wouldn’t be a law against it,” said Randolph.
Contact Our DUI Defense Attorneys Today
Oklahoma authorities have taken a tough stance against drunk driving across the state, and the penalties associated with a DUI conviction are severe. For even a first-time offense in Oklahoma, a DUI conviction carries penalties including jail time, hefty fines, driver’s license suspension and more. If you are facing charges for a DUI or DWI offense in Oklahoma, consult our criminal defense attorneys at Oklahoma Legal Center today. The lawyers at our Oklahoma City-based law firm have extensive experience protecting the legal rights of individuals charged with drunk driving in Oklahoma, and will work diligently to have your charges reduced or dismissed altogether.