Madison – Today State Senator Tim Carpenter (D-Milwaukee) announced that in order to help ensure greater public safety on the roads in Milwaukee County, he will be introducing a bill to allow Milwaukee County, or a municipality within Milwaukee County, the local option to approve and conduct a pilot safety program allowing sobriety checkpoints.

 

“It was reported that five suspected drunken drivers were arrested this past Friday from 4:00 PM to Sunday 6:00AM on Milwaukee County highways. This happens every weekend.

Folks in the Milwaukee area are tired of reading yet another news article about their safety being compromised on roads by intoxicated drivers causing an accident or driving the wrong way on a freeway,” said Carpenter.

 

“Enough is enough,” said Carpenter.

 

According to the Department of Transportation, Wisconsin has the highest rate of drunken driving in the nation. More than 26 percent of Wisconsin adults who were surveyed admitted that they had driven under the influence of alcohol in the previous year.

 

Under the bill, sobriety safety checkpoint program would be conducted for not more than ten days each year and must end after two years. This public safety pilot program will allow effectiveness and efficiency to be evaluated.