WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) – Marathon County Sheriff Chad Billeb is reminding residents to “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” this New Year’s Eve.
Sheriff Billeb stated that safety should be the top priority this holiday weekend, saying, “We just ask that number one people be responsible with their drinking, not be drinking and driving or using any substance for that matter while operating a motor vehicle, and if you see someone who is to call our 911 center and ask for an officer to be dispatched.”
According to data from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, there were nearly 23,000 OWI convictions in Wisconsin in 2022 alone, and the number of drivers in Wisconsin convicted of at least one OWI as of 2021 was 515,337, while 261,886 have been convicted two or more times.
The Wisconsin DOT further states that while the number and rate of alcohol-related crashes have decreased over the past five years in Wisconsin, alcohol remains the single greatest driver-contributing cause of fatal crashes.
