No Holiday for Drunk Drivers

With accidents involving drunk drivers on the rise, law enforcement agencies and private activists are stepping up efforts during the holiday season to keep intoxicated people off Orange County’s roadways.

Several police departments have announced beefed-up patrols through the end of the year. And a countywide police task force will double its monthly checkpoints and city “saturation” efforts in which officers from 21 agencies send patrol units to a single city and look for drunk drivers.

“The chances of people drinking and driving increase during the holidays because they have more opportunity to drink,” said Arline Dillman, traffic safety manager for the Automobile Club of Southern California. “There are more parties and get-togethers, with more temptation to drink.”

Beginning Monday, the Auto Club will launch a 30-second, public-service TV spot on the dangers of drinking and driving.

It shows a young man in the back seat of a moving vehicle--somebody else is driving. The passenger keeps checking his watch, apparently concerned he will be late for a party. The voice-over by Thomas McKernan, president and chief executive of the Auto Club, says, “If you drink, don’t drive. One drink can impair your driving.”

When McKernan adds, “It’s not worth it,” a wider-angle shot shows the young man is in the back seat of a police car, headed to jail.

The Orange County chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving has a new advertising campaign too, with four messages that will appear on billboards, buses and at bus stops.

“People can get complacent about issues,” said Reidel Post, executive director of MADD’s local chapter. “Sometimes you need to change your approach.”

One poster shows an unhappy woman behind bars with the caption: “There’s no happy hour in prison. DUI (Driving under the influence) can land you in jail.” Another shows blinding headlights with the caption, “Famous Last Words: I’m OK to Drive.” A third shows four types of substance abuse with a headline: “Driving Under the Influence, Any Way You Do It, It’s a Crime.” The fourth is in Spanish: “Perdoname Padre (Forgive me, Father).” Smaller type says in Spanish: “I killed my family,” followed by, “A night of drinking and driving can leave you with a lifetime of guilt.”

Said Post: “We need to reach people, to let them know that all we accomplished in the ‘90s shouldn’t be reversed because of complacency.”

After a decade of declines in the number of drunk-driving incidents, California showed an increase last year. Auto Club experts said, however, that one year does not make a pattern and that 2000 may have been a blip.

Orange County tracked the state trend. Auto Club research analysts said that in 1995, 2,523 accidents here involved “HBD” drivers. The code means “Had Been Drinking,” which separates such accidents from those involving other substance abuse. The HBD numbers declined steadily to 1,901 by 1999. But in 2000, the total was 1,955.

“It’s enough to cause concern that the message isn’t getting out,” Dillman said.

Too many motorists fail to grasp that a person does not have to be falling-down drunk to be impaired, she said. “If your thinking is impaired, you can’t deal with complex decisions or divided attention while driving.”

In California, a person with a blood-alcohol level of 0.08% or higher is considered intoxicated. Police say the amount of alcohol a person can drink without reaching that level depends on his or her body weight and metabolism.

Those pulled over at a task-force checkpoint on suspicion of drunk driving will learn what their alcohol level is exactly. Police will have a trailer with breath-test equipment, a dispatcher who can call a tow truck, and a medical technician to take a blood sample and test it at the scene. The MADD people will be there too to make sure people get MADD literature on the dangers of drinking and driving.

Drivers failing police tests will get a ticket and be released, but only if a licensed driver is available to provide a ride home. Otherwise, the person goes to jail and the car is towed.

Santa Ana Police Sgt. William Ehart, in charge of the countywide task force, said checkpoints and saturation patrols have shown that people do use designated drivers. “It sometimes is obvious that everybody in the vehicle has been drinking except the driver,” he said.

A recent checkpoint in Laguna Beach netted just six drunk drivers. Ehart called it a successful night. “Because of our presence, we learned that taxi service went up 150% that night. That’s good. We don’t want to send people to jail. We just want to get them home safely.”

Ehart said just hearing about a checkpoint can deter people from driving while drunk.

A huge night for police saturation will be New Year’s Eve. The Auto Club has this suggestion for people driving that night: If you realize you’ve had too much to drink, call its free “Tipsy Tow” service toll free at (800) 400-4AAA.

The Auto Club will tow your car home, and you with it, without charge within eight miles.