State, Local Police To Step Up DUI Patrols This Weekend

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- State and local police want drivers to know they will be watching on Super Bowl Sunday.

"We're sending the same message – don't get behind the wheel if impaired or you'll be arrested," Cathy Tress, with the Pennsylvania DUI Task Force, said.

For Tony Ciotti and his Pear Transportation Company, which ferries drivers who may have had too much to drink home from the bars in their own cars, business will be good this Sunday.

They're at complete capacity.

"Events like this, there's always going to be checkpoints around," Ciotti said. "It's a precaution the city needs to take and it's something that certainly helps our business when word gets around like that."

State police say they want people to be able to get where they're going safely.

"This is almost like a holiday – almost bigger than a holiday, so there will be a lot of people getting from one party to another," Trooper Robin Mungo said. "We want to make sure they do that safely so we will see a lot more people stationed out than we normally do."

Having a local team in the Super Bowl makes DUI enforcement efforts even more important. The Eagles or Steelers have appeared in three of the last six Super Bowls.

PennDOT says in those years, the number of alcohol-related statewide following the Super Bowl averaged 50.

In the off years, that number dropped to 28.