RALEIGH — The Governor’s Highway Safety Program announced that state and local law enforcement officers will be out in force as part of the Labor Day “Booze It & Lose It” campaign to crack down on impaired drivers.

The campaign got underway Aug. 20 and runs until Sept. 6.

“As we celebrate the end of the summer, I remind motorists to do so responsibly,” said David Weinstein, director of the GHSP. “Impaired driving is simply not worth the consequences. Remember, it’s Booze It & Lose It.”

In 2009, there were 11,304 alcohol-related crashes in North Carolina, resulting in 394 fatalities and 8,791 injuries.

“Booze It & Lose It” is administered by the N.C. Governor’s Highway Safety Program. The initiative began in 1994 and was created to zero in on impaired drivers with innovative and extensive anti driving-while-impaired enforcement and education.

Additional checkpoints and patrols will be conducted across the state throughout the campaign. During last year’s campaign, officers issued more than 105,370 traffic and criminal citations during the Labor Day “Booze It & Lose It” campaign.