By MARGIE TRAX PAGE
Staff Writer
mtrax@starbeacon.com
GENEVA - - The Geneva Police Department is paying special attention to drunk drivers now and through Labor Day weekend, Police Chief Dan Dudik said.
"The message is simple. No matter what you drive, if we catch you driving impaired, we will arrest you," Dudik said.
Dudik said the department will be out in force to keep drunk drivers off the road during the last few weeks of summer.
"We want everyone to play it safe and always have a designated driver. It is hard to know what your blood alcohol level (BAC) is. We stop people and they don't think they are drunk because they only had a couple of drinks," Dudik said.
The legal limit for BAC is .08 in every state.
Patrolman Joseph Carroll said Geneva police officers have arrested 56 impaired drivers so far this year. That compares with 104 arrests in 2005 and 139 arrests in 2004.
"We certainly get our share of drunk drivers in this area. Those are big numbers for a small community," he said.
Though Geneva has not had any recent fatalities caused by impaired driving, Carroll said the city is often a pass-through for offenders.
"We have had several fatalities involving alcohol just outside the city limits. That means that these drunk drivers were either just leaving or coming into our city," he said.
Target enforcement is paying off for the city, Carroll said.
"Our officers are very aggressive at targeting drunk drivers. They want to get these drivers off the roadways. (The officers) are out looking for drunk drivers because they know the seriousness of the offense," he said.
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