From Mike Dunn, public information officer for the City of Temple Terrace:

The Temple Terrace Police Department will join law enforcement agencies across the country in a Labor Day Crackdown program aimed at curbing impaired driving.

This special police initiative will start Friday, Aug. 19 and continue through Sept. 5, 2011, said Capt. Michael Pridemore of the Temple Terrace Police Department.

From Friday through Labor Day, the police department will be spearheading a public education campaign to warn against the dangers of impaired driving. The department also will deploy additional patrol units and roadside safety checkpoints to get impaired drivers off the road, Pridemore said.

The theme for this year’s national campaign: “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over.”

Studies show that twice as many alcohol-impaired accidents occur over the weekend and four times as many occur at night, so law-enforcement agencies will implement additional checkpoints and patrols during these time periods, Pridemore said.

The Temple Terrace Police Department recognizes that Driving Under the Influence (DUI) is a serious public safety problem. The department has a zero-tolerance DUI policy and aggressively enforces the state’s DUI traffic laws.

If a party is in your plans for the Labor Day holiday, Pridemore said, don’t forget to have a designated driver who isn’t drinking. Let’s keep Temple Terrace safe.