The Benton Police Department will be joining other state and local law enforcement agencies March 11-20 and April 15-24 conducting additional sobriety checkpoints and saturation patrols looking for all drunk drivers with an emphasis on teenage drivers. 

    This is part of an effort to keep young drivers safe before the upcoming end of school periods when many young people are on the road for proms, graduations and spring breaks.  Traffic crashes are the leading cause of death to America’s teens and nearly one-third of those crashes are alcohol-related.
 
    It is against the law in all states for anyone under age 21 to drink alcoholic beverages.  Arkansas’s Underage Driving Under the Influence (DUI) Law, makes it illegal for anyone under age 21 to drive with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .02 or above.

    “For a young driver, this often means one drink is all it takes to be impaired.” said Lt. Kevin Russell.  “Impaired driving is not just another traffic offense; it is a serious crime that often causes needless deaths and injuries,” he said.

    “We’re working to alert our community that underage drinking is against the law and the consequences that can result from the choice to drink and drive are serious: a possible criminal record, losing your license and effects on your entire family.”    

    For more information on preventing underage drinking visit www.stopimpaireddriving.org or contact the Arkansas Highway Safety Office at 501-618-8136.