BOISE – The Idaho Transportation Department’s Office of Highway Safety (OHS) is joining law enforcement agencies across the state for the 2025 “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign, running August 15 through September 1. The effort focuses on preventing impaired driving ahead of Labor Day, one of the deadliest times on Idaho roads.
The numbers are sobering. In 2024, impaired driving claimed 86 lives in Idaho. That’s 36% of all traffic fatalities in Idaho which is the equivalent of losing over three Idahoans every week to a preventable cause.
Nationwide, alcohol-impaired driving accounts for about 30% of all crash fatalities. In 2023 alone, 12,429 people were killed in alcohol-related crashes. That’s one person every 42 minutes, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
“These aren’t just statistics,” said Josephine Middleton, ITD Highway Safety Manager. “Every number is a person; someone’s family member, friend, or coworker. This campaign is about more than the legal consequences of driving impaired. It’s about saving lives. If you’re impaired, don’t drive. It’s that simple.”
While these numbers are a stark reminder of what’s at stake, OHS also wants to highlight the everyday heroes who help prevent tragedy. The designated drivers, the friends who call a rideshare, and the people who plan ahead before their first drink. Every sober ride home is a life protected, a crash prevented, and a family kept whole.
ITD urges all Idahoans to join the movement to end impaired driving by following these simple steps:
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Use a sober driver, rideshare, or taxi.
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Never let friends drive impaired.
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Have a plan before the first drink.
Enforcement will be visible, and the message remains clear: Drive sober or get pulled over. But the ultimate goal is not to write tickets. It’s to make sure everyone makes it home safely.
For more information, visit shift-idaho.org.