AUSTIN, TX - From now through Sept. 6, the Texas Department of Transportation, police departments, and sheriff ’s offices across the Lone Star state are working together to reduce impaired driving during the annual Drink, Drive, Go to Jail campaign. Law enforcement statewide will be working overtime to find and arrest impaired drivers throughout the Labor Day holiday weekend.

“Last year during the two-week crackdown, officers around the state worked nearly 18,000 combined hours of overtime specifically looking for intoxicated drivers,” said Colonel Steve McCraw of the Texas Department of Public Safety. “If we pull you over and you’ve been drinking, you’ll be arrested.”

Convicted firsttime DWI offenders face a fine of up to $2,000, loss of their driver's license for up to a year, and up to 180 days in jail. Safety officials say other costs associated with an impaired driving arrest and conviction can add up to more than $17,000 for bail, legal fees, court appearances, court-ordered classes, vehicle insurance increases, and other expenses. Preliminary data from TxDOT’s Crash Records Information System indicates there were 27,108 alcohol-related crashes in Texas last year that resulted in 955 deaths and 17,542 injuries.

“The single most effective way to avoid a DWI is not to get behind the wheel if you’ve been drinking,” said Carol Rawson, TxDOT’s Traffic Operations Division Director. “This Labor Day weekend, we’re reminding Texans they have many options for getting home that don’t include drinking and driving.”

“To drive home the point, TxDOT is using mobile billboards in the form of “cop cabs” -unique vehicles that are a police patrol car on the front end and a taxi cab on the back end, each bearing a Choose Your Ride message. The “cop cabs” will appear in twelve communities with a high incidence of alcoholrelated fatalities.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission and Mothers Against Drunk Driving are partnering with TxDOT and law enforcement in the Drink. Drive. Go to Jail campaign.