Anti-drunk driving campaigns aimed at automobile drivers and boaters in North Carolina were launched on Wednesday (June 28) in Raleigh. Officials launched the “Operation Firecracker Booze It & Lose It” and “Operation Dry Water” campaigns.

The “Booze It & Lose It” campaign started Monday (June 26) and will end on July 9, and the “Dry Water” campaign runs July 1-3. During the campaigns, officials are raising awareness about the dangers of drunk driving and increasing enforcement patrols to crack down on impaired drivers on roads and waterways.

More than 32% of the state’s 65 traffic fatalities for the last five years of published data were alcohol-related, according to the N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles’ North Carolina 2021 Traffic Crash Facts report.

State troopers will be on the lookout during the “Booze It & Lose It” campaign to crack down on drunk drivers. As part of “Operation Dry Water,” law enforcement officers with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission will also be stepping up marine patrols to ensure boat drivers are sober on North Carolina’s waterways.

Alcohol use is the leading contributor in recreational boater deaths, according to the National Boating Under the Influence Awareness and Enforcement Campaign. For more traffic safety tips, follow @NCGHSP on Facebook and @NC_GHSP on Twitter and Instagram, and visit NCDOT’s GHSP webpage. For boating safety tips and information on the “Dry Water” campaign, please follow @NCWRC on Facebook and www.ncwildlife.org or follow them on Twitter and Instagram, or visit On the Road, On the Water. Don’t Drink and Drive or Home – Operation Dry Water​.