WOOD COUNTY, Ohio — A stern warning for drivers who will be in and around Wood County this weekend.
Because of the busy St. Paddy's Day weekend, the Wood County Sheriff's Office will be out in full force, discouraging people from making poor choices.
St. Patrick's Day is over, but people are still expected to celebrate throughout the weekend.
It makes it one of the biggest weekends for alcohol consumption.
With that in mind, the Wood County Sheriff's Office plans to be on high alert during this weekend's traffic blitz.
"We're trying to discourage people and be very visible," said Wood County Sheriff Mark Wasylyshyn. "And try to deter people from making bad decisions by partying too much this weekend. And having too much alcohol to consume and then get behind the wheel of the vehicle."
Deputies also work hard to be visible in high crash areas such as the intersection at Sand Ridge Road and US Route 6.
"Actually the state encourages hours where there may be more crashes or issues. And we pretty much can go anywhere in the county we want to go when it comes to these blitzes. But we tend to focus on areas where we've had a lot of crashes," said Wasylyshyn.
And even if you haven't been drinking, you should still follow all the driving regulations, because deputies will be looking out for that too.
The goal here isn't to ruin your good time, but to save lives.
Wasylyshyn's advice is to make a plan before you start drinking.
This way you can clearly think of how you want to make it home after a few drinks.
"It's a lot cheaper to pay for Lyft, or Uber or a taxi or to get a designated driver than to have the consequences of getting arrested or worse, being involved in a crash where someone gets hurt or killed," said Wasylyshyn.
Funding for this comes from the state to pay for overtime and fuel.
This weekend's traffic blitz is going on now until the end of Sunday.