Acadia National Park joins campaign to decrease impaired driving and improve visitor safety on park roads

Date: August 8, 2017
Contact: John Kelly, 207-288-8703

BAR HARBOR, MAINE – The National Park Service (NPS) is cooperating with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as part of a national traffic safety campaign to reduce impaired driving on roads in Acadia National Park. Beginning on August 10 and continuing through the fall, park rangers will conduct safety checkpoints and enhance traffic enforcement efforts in the park to identify drivers impaired by alcohol, drugs, and marijuana. Park rangers will stop and make brief contact with all drivers passing through safety checkpoints while making every effort to minimize any inconvenience.

“The National Park Service is working to ensure that visitors to Acadia National Park have a safe and enjoyable trip,” said Superintendent Kevin Schneider. “We appreciate the patience and cooperation of those visitors who may encounter a safety checkpoint in the park.”

In addition to driving impaired, possessing an open container of alcohol in a motor vehicle is illegal, and no person under the age of 21 may possess alcohol. Regardless of state law, the possession or use of marijuana in any amount is still illegal in Acadia National Park.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the nation lost 35,092 people in crashes on U.S. roadways during 2015, an increase from 32,744 in 2014. The 7.2-percent increase is the largest percentage increase in nearly 50 years. Alcohol-impaired driving fatalities increased by 3.2 percent, from 9,943 in 2014 to 10,265 in 2015.