Over the past weeks, you may have noticed our Operation ABC banner on the front of the police station. ABC represents, America Buckles up Children. As participants in Operation ABC, the Holden Police Department teamed with the Massachusetts State Police to enforce child restraint and alcohol-related laws at designated checkpoints. Police officers take these offenses very seriously. They respond, after all, to all manner of accidents, including the most horrific.
Police officers observe, first hand, what has become apparent to others through statistics.
Most children under age 14 killed in alcohol-related crashes are riding with a drunk driver, rather than riding in vehicles hit by drunk drivers. This is according to new research from the Centers for Disease Control. In addition, the more alcohol consumed by a driver the less likely child passengers will be restrained. We're glad to have made progress, but there is more work to do. According to a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 1996 estimate, one out of every 280 babies born today will die in a crash with an intoxicated driver.