The Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over program is focused on the importance of not drinking and driving. It involved a strong media, and enforcement blitz focused on the Labor Day Holiday weekend. Due to its strong media presence, it is often referred to as the Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign.

The Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over program is focused on the importance of not drinking and driving. It involved a strong media and enforcement blitz focused on the Labor Day Holiday weekend. Due to its strong media presence, it is often referred to as the Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign.

The campaign is a partnership among the Alabama governor’s office, the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, the Alabama Department of Public Safety, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Regional Community Traffic Safety Programs, and municipal and county law enforcement agencies.

Alabama Department of Commerce (ADC) implemented the Labor Day 2014 “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” State Media Plan. The mission of the statewide multimedia campaign was to promote the national enforcement mobilization initiative and the partnership of criminal justice and traffic safety partners in a comprehensive and obvious way.

The campaign is designed to increase awareness of the massive enforcement efforts, including sobriety checkpoints, saturation patrols, undercover officers and concerned citizens. These efforts would involve multiple agencies and target specific areas to identify and arrest impaired drivers. The media campaign ran from May through August.

CAPS assisted with the data collection and analysis efforts to determine the success of the campaign.

A telephone survey was conducted from a representative portion of the state to determine if the media campaign was successful. The data collection was performed as soon as the enforcement period ended. A total of 500 qualified Alabama driver residents were randomly sampled using a combination of landlines and cell phone exchanges.


Program Results

  • 77% had seen or heard messages encouraging people to avoid drinking and driving.
  • Of those who had seen a message:
    • 59% saw the message on TV. 59% of TV and Radio impressions were from commercials/advertisements, while 27% were public service announcements.
    • 16% heard it on the radio.
    • 18% saw a billboard or sign.
    • 4% read it in the newspaper.
  • 36% of drivers had seen or heard of special efforts by the police to reduce drinking and driving.
  • 56% of respondents had seen the special effort by police on TV.
  • 12% of respondents had seen the special effort by police on billboards or signs.
  • 12% of respondents heard of the efforts on the radio.
  • 17% of drivers saw or heard news stories about law enforcement efforts.
  • 47% of drivers saw or heard a commercial/advertisement.
  • 36% of drivers saw or heard a public service announcement.
  • 34% of the drivers said they had personally driven past or through a police checkpoint in the last 30 days.
  • 74% of respondents could recall a slogan of an enforcement program(s) targeted at drinking and driving.