One thing no visitor to Branson wants to add to their Branson experience is a stop and arrest for driving while under the influence of either alcohol or drugs (DWI). The message is clear to both local residents and visitors alike driving in the Branson area, “Don’t drive while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.”
In separate press releases, both the City of Branson and the City of Hollister pointed out that they will be joining with law enforcement officers from all over Missouri in an intensified effort to catch, arrest, and punish those driving on Missouri’s roads and highways while under the influence of alcohol or drugs during the period May 1-3. Hollister’s Police Chief Preston Schmidt and Branson’s Assistant Police Chief Steve Dalton said that it is never worth the risk to drive while under the influence of alcohol or drugs and that to do so could cause drivers to lose their license, pay large fines, go to jail, or worst of all, cause a tragic loss of life.
Although Missouri’s driving while under the influence laws are enforced on a daily basis by local law enforcement officers the “crackdown” on May 1-3 is intended to focus the public’s awareness on the DWI problem in an effort to make Missouri’s roads and highways safer. Both Dalton and Schmidt emphasized that in 2007, 243 people died in more than 7,780 alcohol-related traffic crashes, resulting in a death or injury every 1.7 hours.
