The Washington State Patrol joins the Port Angeles Police Department, the Sequim Police Department, and the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office to conduct special DUI Emphasis Patrols on Friday, July 6, and Saturday, July 7. 

These are the first of several such patrols during the summer to search for and arrest impaired drivers, according to a release by Jim Borte, project coordinator for the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office. 

Extra law enforcement officers will be working with regularly scheduled personnel to improve driving safety.

Drivers are advised always to drive sober, obey the speed limit, and buckle up to avoid costly tickets, traffic crashes and serious injuries. 

The average cost of a DUI can be more than $5,000, Borte said in the release: That includes fines, jail costs, attorney fees, probation costs, loss of license, increased insurance rates, and other penalties.

Impaired driving, speeding, distracted driving (cell phone use) and failure to buckle up are the leading causes of traffic deaths in Washington.

So far in 2012, said Borte, there has been one traffic death in Clallam County, with an annual average of seven over the past five years and nine deaths in 2011.

Traffic deaths remain the leading cause of death for those under the age of 25.