DUI Patrol To Cover The Entire Length of Street Road in Bucks County on Thanksgiving Eve

The entire length (all 18 miles) of Street Road in Bucks County will be patrolled by officers as part of a roving DUI patrol this Thanksgiving Eve.

Officers from 14 towns will be patrolling the highway from 10 pm on Wednesday until 3 am Thursday morning, the Bucks County District Attorney, Matthew D. Weintraub, announced on Tuesday. As part of the roving patrol, motorists who appear to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol may be subject to field sobriety tests.

“This Thanksgiving I want to be thankful for one thing: that everyone celebrates safely,” said Weintraub said. “Don’t drink or do drugs and drive. Get home alive.”

The patrol is funded through a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

Participating departments include Bensalem, Dublin, Lower Southampton, Middletown, New Britain, Newtown Borough Police Department, Newtown Township Police Department, Penndel, Richland, Upper Southampton, Warminster, Warrington, and Warwick Township.

You may be asking yourself why DUI checkpoints are announced in advance. This stems from a 1990 ruling from the Supreme Court. The court ruled that checkpoints are constitutional, but they mandated that they are publicized ahead of time.

Having said that, you should NEVER drink and drive. There are so many options to make sure you don't drink and drive. You can plan ahead and get a designated driver or call a cab, Uber or Lyft driver.

From 2012 to 2016, over 800 people across the United States died in alcohol-impaired-driving crashes during the Thanksgiving holiday period (6:00 p.m. Wednesday to 5:59 a.m. Monday), making it the deadliest holiday on our roads.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reminds you that if you see a drunk driver on the road, contact local law enforcement immediately.