Maryland State Police Crack Down on Impaired Drivers

Maryland State Police continue to crack down on impaired drivers on state roads and troopers are sharing some stories and stats from this weekend’s State Police Impaired Driving Reduction Effort (SPIDRE).

According to Police, a trooper with the Maryland State Police department’s impaired driving enforcement team actually had a drunk driver run into him, as the team arrested more than one dozen drunk drivers, one of them twice, who had an average blood alcohol content of more than twice the legal limit.

As the State Police Impaired Driving Reduction Effort (SPIDRE) team was working in Montgomery County this past weekend, one trooper was out with an impaired driving arrest while a second trooper was parked behind him to assist, shortly after 2 a.m. on the morning of June 14. Police said a driver on westbound University Boulevard, east of September Lane, sideswiped the patrol car and continued driving. Troopers stopped the car a short distance away and arrested the driver, who police said was also impaired.

In another incident, a driver was stopped by a SPIDRE Team trooper on I-95 for traveling 94 mph in a 65 mph zone. Police said the driver was arrested for impaired driving and his blood alcohol content was more than twice the legal limit. According to police, the driver said he was on his way to work and he was transporting his seven-year-old child at the time.

Another driver was arrested for impaired driving and, after being charged, was released to his wife, police said. Hours later that same evening, SPIDRE Team troopers saw him driving again, while exhibiting signs of being an impaired driver. He was stopped and, upon further investigation, was arrested a second time for impaired driving. Police said his blood alcohol content was over twice the legal limit during both of his arrests.

During the weekend, the SPIDRE Team arrested 13 impaired drivers, four of whom were repeat offenders, while focusing their patrols on Routes 650, 29, 97, and 193, Piney Branch Road, Carroll Avenue, I-495 and I-270 in Montgomery County. Police said the average blood alcohol content of those arrested was .17. The legal limit for impaired driving in Maryland is .08.

Throughout the rest of Maryland over the weekend, troopers arrested another 67 impaired drivers.

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