APD boosting presence over Labor Day weekend

Operation Summer's End will spring into action this weekend, to curb the number of Labor Day accidents that involve alcohol or aggressive driving on Austin roads.

Beginning Friday, September 2nd, the Austin Police Department will work with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission on a major traffic initiative designed to prevent drunken and aggressive driving. The campaign will concentrate on the Austin downtown area, Interstate Highway 35 and MoPac Expressway, which are areas that were focused on in previous years.

APD will be employing their DWI Enforcement team, Highway and Patrol Response team, Vehicular Homicide team and the new Air 1 helicopter.

"The police department will be mostly focused on people driving aggressively or drunk," said Lt. Kenneth Cannaday, spokesman for the APD Highway Enforcement Command. Cannaday said the department will strategically place the BAT mobile, their Blood Alcohol Testing mobile, in noticeable downtown locations so that drivers will see it in use.

"We're trying to use a visible presence, so if people see the police they're more likely to be responsible," he said.

Cannaday said that people might consider other options such as having a designated driver or just not drinking at all.

According to APD Detective Ely Reyes, nine of the past 10 fatal accidents in the Austin area have been alcohol- or drug-related.

"Either the driver or victim have been under the influence of alcohol or drugs, even in fatal accidents involving pedestrians," Reyes said.

After surveying the most current accidents this year, APD saw a trend they wanted to attack more aggressively, especially over a holiday weekend, Reyes said.

Reyes, who investigates fatal collisions, estimated that half of the 39 fatal accidents this year have involved alcohol alone.

TABC will also help keep drunken drivers off the road by watching downtown bars closely. Cannaday said TABC has decided to check in at bars over the weekend to crackdown on how much alcohol they are serving and to whom they are serving. The agency will be searching for bartenders and servers who serve too much alcohol to customers or who serve minors.

"We know that students are going back to school and people are partying during the long weekend, but we want them to be responsible," Cannaday said.

In addition to drivers who may have been drinking, officers will also be looking for cases of road rage or for anyone driving erratically, "such as a motorcycle driving in and out of other vehicles," Cannaday said.

Source: To review the full article in The Daily Texan by Jimmie Collins click here.