A longtime state and local campaign aimed at keeping impaired drivers off the road returns Friday with a twist.
For the first time, agencies will put an emphasis on safety in work zones, where workers are especially vulnerable.
Hampshire County has several prominent work zones, including at the Conz-Pleasant intersection and along Route 9 in Hadley.
On Tuesday, the Highway Safety Division of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety, the state Department of Transportation and state and local police departments launched the Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign, which officially begins Friday and runs through Labor Day.
The end of summer into Labor Day is considered a particularly dangerous time to be on the roads, given that 40 percent of traffic fatalities during that period are the result of impaired driving, according to statistics provided by the Amherst Police Department.
Additionally, alcohol has been a factor in all five work zone crashes statewide thus far this summer, according to a press release from Massachusetts State Police. There were also 22 fatal work zone crashes in Massachusetts between 2011 and 2014.
“MassDOT’s top priority is to protect its roadway crews, contract crews and the law enforcement officers who are keeping them safe, as they perform work inside of construction zones,” MassDOT Highway Administrator Thomas J. Tinlin said in the release. “We want to make sure they all return home safely to their families every day.”
The Highway Safety Department will fund police patrols near work zones, including in Amherst.
The department said police officers “will be out in force looking for impaired drivers,” which will mean more patrol vehicles and more operating under the influence checkpoints over the next few weeks.
Seventy-four people were arrested in Amherst for impaired driving in fiscal year 2014, the last year for which statistics are available. Amherst Police Chief Scott P. Livingstone said he hopes that increased enforcement and an emphasis on the preventability of impaired driving will help to bring that number down.
“Too many people are still making the wrong decision when it comes to drinking and then getting behind the wheel of a motor vehicle,” said Livingstone. “The statistics don’t lie: drinking and driving causes senseless deaths each and every year, deaths that are always preventable.”
“Make the right call if you are impaired,” he added, “don’t drink and drive.”
The campaign also offers several tips for drivers. It suggests people who are planning on drinking use a ride sharing service or a designated driver, stay off their phones – even hands-free calls — in work zones and slow down in accordance with work zone speed limits — speeding fines are doubled in work zones.
Isaac Burke contributed to this report.