Special Enforcement Targets Impaired Motorcycle Riders to Save Lives –
Des Moines, Iowa – If you drink alcohol and then ride your motorcycle in Iowa this summer, beware. The Iowa State Patrol is launching a special “Ride Sober or Get Pulled Over” enforcement campaign to crack down on impaired motorcycle riders and save more lives on our roadways.
The Iowa State Patrol says law enforcement will be zeroing in on major motorcycle rallies and popular bars where motorcyclists are consuming alcohol this summer — to stop and arrest impaired riders. Special patrols on major highways and roads, including Rusty Wallace Drive in Newton, will be scheduled around the Iowa Grand Motorcycle Rally at the Iowa Speedway, July 25-28, 2012.
“Motorcycle riders who drink and ride are a big problem,” said State Patrol Sergeant Scott Bright. “Of the 55 motorcycle riders killed in traffic crashes in Iowa during 2010, 25 percent had BAC levels of .08 or higher. Thirty-three percent had BAC levels of .01 or above.” Sergeant Bright said riding a motorcycle takes coordination, balance, and most importantly good judgment. Drinking alcohol, more than any other single factor, can rob motorcyclists of the ability to think clearly and ride safely.
According to the U.S. DOT’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, motorcyclists accounted for 14 percent of total traffic fatalities in 2010. Yet, motorcycles made up only three percent of all registered vehicles in the United States in 2010 and accounted for only 0.6 percent of all vehicle miles traveled.
In 2010, 42 percent of the 1,921 motorcycle riders who died in single-vehicle crashes had BAC levels of .08 or higher. That number jumps to 65 percent for those riders who were killed in single-vehicle crashes on weekend nights. Nationally, the percentage of fatally injured motorcycle riders with BACs of .08 and higher was highest for the 40-44 age group (40 percent), followed by the 45-49 and 35-39 age groups (39 percent, respectively).
sad,$$$$$, Anonymous, and LVS, how old are you? 6? They are doing their jobs, the ones we pay them to do. If you don’t drink and drive or break the law you won’t have a problem. But if you guys are the ones who drive buzzed or drunk I hope they catch you.
Yet the Iowa state patrol is the organization that covered up Bumsteads son driving drunk and killing 2 innocent people. what a shame. locals originally stated that Eric was drunk, but for some reason the patrol hushed up his name and never charged him with driving drunk, stealing a government vehicle, driving without a license. ect. Bumstead and the Iowa state partol needs to look in the mirror before they harass cyclists. targeting a very small portion of the driving community is nothing more than profiling. you are absolutely right happyguy. the ISP should have done their job and charged the guilty. no matter who they are. this is just one example why tax paying citizens do not trust our government or police. “treat everyone fairly and we will do the same to you” I say to the state patrol and government
It’s not about safety, it’s all about the money and always has been.
Such B.S. If this was really about keeping motorcyclists safe on the road state law would require helmets, a move that would save way more lives than harrassing law-abiding citizens. Doesn’t the ISP have better things to do? Last I knew there were more than a few unsolved crimes out there to investigate.
This is more grant Dollars, given to public sector employees by Obama, asks for thier vote in return.
Why do you think in every speech Obama gives, he ends it by saying we need more police, more teachers, and more firefighters. Private dollars flow to the public sector one way or another. Lots of DOUBLE PAY for these folks here.
God I love a headline thats reads Public Servants are CRACKING DOWN on citizens. That how socialism is supposed to work