Law enforcement agencies in all 100 counties will be using a Breath Alcohol Testing Unit to keep impaired drivers off the streets, according to the state’s highway patrol. Known as the BAT-mobile — “breath alcohol testing” — the vehicle will be cruising the roadways as part of an ambitious drunk driving campaign, sponsored by North Carolina Department of Transportation.
The N.C. Governor’s Highway Safety Program provides grant funding for seven BAT-mobiles to operate annually statewide.
“BAT-mobiles — while not exactly the same as the one Batman drove — are a pretty critical tool for fighting crime in North Carolina, especially when it comes to impaired driving,” Governor’s Highway Safety Program Director Mark Ezzell said in a press release.
The vehicles will patrol from Memorial Day to Labor Day, the 100 “deadliest days of the year on the road,” according to the release.
Teenagers are 16% more likely to be involved in a fatal crash over the course of the summer, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. During the 100 Deadliest Days Campaign, the BAT-mobiles will conduct DWI checking stations. specifically in areas with a high rate of impaired driving crashes.
BAT-mobiles, operated by the Forensic Tests for Alcohol Branch — a division of the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services — allow officers to perform breathe alcohol and other sobriety tests. The units are also fully equipped with the instruments and forms necessary for law enforcement to test and process a driver arrested with an impaired driving offense. It even has office space for a magistrate.
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