Lehigh Valley DUI/Highway Safety Task Force, along with The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, and other safety partners, wants to remind motorists the importance of not driving while impaired in the new year.

From Thanksgiving Day in 2021 to New Year’s Day in 2022, there were 64 crashes involving an impaired driver in the Lehigh Valley (Lehigh and Northampton counties) and 162 crashes in PennDOT’s District 5, which encompasses Berks, Carbon, Lehigh, Monroe, Northampton, and Schuylkill counties. Of these crashes, eight resulted in fatalities.

Motorists are reminded that a variety of substances can impair someone’s ability to operate a motor vehicle, and buzzed driving is drunk driving.

Alcohol, marijuana, and other drugs can slow a driver’s coordination, judgment and reaction times, while cocaine and methamphetamine can make drivers more aggressive and reckless.

Some prescription and over-the-counter medicines can cause extreme drowsiness, dizziness, and other side effects.

Motorists should read and follow all warning labels and note any that warn against “operating heavy machinery,” which includes driving a vehicle.

During the holiday period, high-visibility enforcement efforts such as roving DUI patrols and sobriety checkpoints are conducted to reduce the number of crashes and fatalities involving impaired drivers.

The enforcement activities are funded through PennDOT’s statewide annual distribution from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

More information on impaired driving can be found at www.PennDOT.pa.gov/safety.

This is the 22nd year the Lehigh Valley Highway Safety Task Force has been in existence, and to date, hundreds of enforcement activities have been conducted.

There have been thousands of individuals tested for DUI and subsequently arrested for driving under the influence.

The task force is comprised of dozens of police departments throughout the Lehigh Valley, along with PennDOT, the business community and health care representatives.