The next Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau’s special Traffic Enforcement Program (sTEP) wave is scheduled to run over Fourth of July weekend, and the focus this time is on drunk drivers.

According to Perry Police Chief Eric Vaughn, the statewide initiative comes with a grant from the state to pay for overtime for officers. The idea is to increase their presence on the roads during high volume times like the three big summer holidays, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and Labor Day. During Memorial Day, officers were focused on seat belt violations, which Vaughn explains is due to the increase in extended travel throughout the state and potential for accidents.

The Fourth of July brings with it different concerns. “During the Fourth of July, we don’t see so much as long-distance travel as we do local travel. People going back and forth maybe to a friend’s house or something like that, where they’ve been out during the day. You know it’s hot, and they’ve been drinking maybe a little, maybe a little too much to be driving. So we try to focus on that. But of course we’re focusing on the violations that lead us to those investigative stops that identify those drunk drivers.”

To hear more about the sTEP wave, listen to today’s Perry Fareway Let’s Talk Dallas County program at RaccoonValleyRadio.com.