Columbia Police Department cracking down on drunk driving this holiday weekend

More drivers will be out on the roads this holiday weekend, meaning more people police presence on Missouri roads cracking down on drunk drivers.

The Columbia Police Department will be out in full force this weekend making sure drivers haven’t been drinking.

CPD officials say July Fourth is one of their busiest holidays, with the most traffic today and tomorrow.

Because of that, Columbia police and the state highway patrol will be on the roads to keep drivers safe.

One vehicle after another leaves Columbia heading to celebrate July Fourth, but drivers need to be careful.

“It’s a dangerous thing to be drinking and driving, and it affects everyone in our community and puts them at risk and everyone else,” said Sgt. Curtis Perkins with the police department’s traffic unit.

Last year in Missouri, drunk driving contributed to more than 30 percent of crashes resulting in death.

Nearly 250 people were killed, almost 900 seriously injured.

A number authorities hope to reduce those figures this July Fourth.

“In my opinion, there is nothing I can do more in making a difference in the community than taking an impaired driver off the roadway, because it’s posing a substantial risk to the citizens and innocent bystanders who could be hit and stuck by these impaired drivers,” Perkins said.

Missouri State Highway Patrol officials say over the span of 30 hours including July 4, 2012, four people were killed and there were 194 injuries, totaling nearly 400 crashes.

In his four years of making DWI arrests, Perkins has arrested 400 drunk drivers.

“In Columbia, just like across the U.S., we have several crashes throughout the year that are caused by intoxicated drivers where they kill other people,” said Perkins.

Columbia police plan on having a sobriety check sometime this weekend .