Deputies from Lyon County, Greenwood County and other counties across Kansas are spending this week and the upcoming weekend looking for impaired drivers.
On KVOE’s Morning Show this week, Lyon County Sheriff Jeff Cope detailed the “Taking Down DUI” enforcement effort. He says deputies are looking for all kinds of impairment substances, not just alcohol.
Marijuana and opioid use behind the wheel have increased “substantially,” according to the Sheriff’s Office. Combined, these substances are now involved in a quarter of all serious injury and fatality crashes. Moving infractions and distracted driving will also be targeted.
Cope says deputies are using grant funding through the Kansas Department of Transporation for this work, and KDOT says this is a timely effort. The New Year’s holiday period outranks most of the other holidays in the number of crashes where at least one driver is impaired.
