LACKAWANNA COUNTY, Pa. — It’s called Operation Nighthawk, an initiative by both state and local police to pull over more people driving under the influence.
“We know DUIs are horrible in our community, and our goal tonight is to get together as law enforcement, state police, and local enforcement to go out and enforce these laws and look for impaired driving,” said Bob Urban, a community service officer of State Police Troop R.
About 75 law enforcement officers from different state police barracks and local police departments are enforcing the initiative across Lackawanna County.
“It’s great to have everybody come together because obviously you can enforce the law when you have people,” said Urban.
But before all of the troopers, officers, and DCNR Rangers hit the road, they got to hear about the impact drunk or distracted driving can have from a Lackawanna County mother whose son, Paul, was killed by a distracted tractor-trailer driver in 2010.
“Everything that they are doing is to save lives, and that has always been my main goal since day one, when my son died, that I wasn’t in it for any other reason, that I just didn’t want another parent to lose a child,” said Eileen Miller, Paul’s mother.
Eileen Miller spent 12 years to pass Paul Miller’s law, which makes using a handheld phone while driving illegal and allows law enforcement to fine people for it. Miller says she wants to work on passing more legislation to prevent distracted driving.
“When we find out how many people are being pulled over, I absolutely plan on coming back and amending this, I have more legislation I want to pass,” said Miller.
Because the law can only start being enforced after June 6, law enforcement officers are only focusing on DUIs for this operation, but they say distracted driving is just as dangerous.
“When you see somebody that’s on a cell phone in front of you, it would almost mimic someone that’s under the influence, you would see them swerving off the side of the road, you would see them crossing the center line, and that’s in worst-case scenarios,” explained Urban.
Law enforcement officers will be patrolling Lackawanna County looking for people driving under the influence through Saturday.