RICHMOND, Va. β Virginia law enforcement agencies are stepping up efforts to catch drunk drivers during the Labor Day weekend as thousands hit the road for holiday celebrations.
The increased enforcement is part of the 24th annual Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign, which includes both heightened police presence and public education efforts.
"This is the 24th annual effort to combat drunk driving by identifying and apprehending drunk drivers on Virginia's roadways," said Kurt Erickson, the project director of Virginia's Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over Campaign.
Across Virginia, 181 law enforcement agencies are participating through Labor Day, conducting over 700 saturation patrols and 86 sobriety checkpoints.
"Just in the Richmond vicinity, it's 31 agencies conducting 113 saturation patrols and... two dozen sobriety checkpoints," Erickson said.
The campaign particularly targets men aged 21-35, a group that accounts for over 66% of drunk driving incidents in Virginia.
Nicholas Buckmaster plans to stay close to home this holiday weekend.
"Probably going to stay around the house with my little girl," Buckmaster said. "Drunk drivers and stuff like are around, so we stay home."
His caution comes from personal experience after being struck on I-95 by an intoxicated driver who had already hit three other vehicles.
"Just randomly hit me from the rear," Buckmaster recalled. "What we didn't know is that he hit three other guys before and was just on a road rage. It was the wildest thing I'd ever seen."
Buckmaster recorded the aftermath on his phone, including the driver failing a sobriety test.
"DUI β they had to bust out all his windows. There he is doing a sobriety test. He could not do it at all," he said.
DJ Williams, 50, also supports the increased enforcement and has a simple message for anyone planning to drink this weekend.
"Uber is your friend, call them," Williams said. "They'll come and get you β save your life or somebody else's."
Williams speaks from a place of personal connection to the issue.
"I got a friend in prison now because he killed somebody drinking and driving... I wouldn't want that for anybody," Williams said. "It's sad for the family who lost a loved one and sad and sad for him because he made the wrong decision."
According to crash data from the Virginia DMV, there were 318 alcohol-related fatalities last year, an 8.5% increase over 2023. During the four-day Labor Day weekend in 2024, 13 people were killed compared to 9 in 2023.
While Richmond has seen decreases in drunk driving crashes, injuries, and fatalities, Henrico County is experiencing a troubling trend.
"All instances of drink driving in Richmond are down, whether you're talking about fatalities, crashes, injuries, they're all down in Richmond. That's great news," Erickson said. "Conversely, in Henrico County, they're all up. Drunk driving crashes are up over 12%, drunk driving injuries are up over 25%, drunk driving fatalities are up over 30% β and that's a locality that still averages a drunk driving crash every 30 hours."
As the holiday weekend approaches, officials continue to emphasize the preventable nature of drunk driving tragedies.
"Labor Day is a holiday in this country where well over a third of all traffic fatalities involve drunk drivers, meaning that they're 100% preventable," Erickson said. "So that's why law enforcement is going to be out there in force through Monday."
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