DUI causes most Alabama highway deaths www.privateofficer.com
DUI causes most Alabama highway deaths http://www.privateofficer.com
Montgomery AL Aug 29 2008
State Trooper Cpl. Philip Taylor was running radar on Interstate 65 when he noticed a car creeping toward him at 38 mph.
“I began looking at the car. I knew that wasn’t right, so I followed the car. The driver was intoxicated and weaving all over the road,” Taylor said.
Taylor also has seen the tragic impact of an intoxicated person losing control of a vehicle. He recently investigated a crash near Montgomery in which an intoxicated driver crossed the U.S. 231 median. Two people were killed
Drunken drivers in Alabama have become too much of a norm, state troopers say. More than 42 percent of all highway deaths in Alabama last year were alcohol-related, or 475 of 1,110 highway deaths.
The statistic does not surprise Col. Chris Murphy, director of the Alabama Department of Public Safety. “I hate that the number is that high, but drinking and driving is a dangerous combination. A car becomes a weapon,” Murphy said.
DUIs are fatalities waiting to happen, Murphy said.
Alabama ranked No.8 in 2006 among the states with the highest number of alcohol-related road deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
DPS alcohol-related road death data include drunken pedestrians.
The maximum blood-alcohol level under Alabama law is 0.08 grams per deciliter or above. Taylor said the average blood-alcohol level of drunken drivers arrested by state troopers is 1.4 to 1.5.
“The highest was 2.2,” he added
Drunken drivers believe they are infallible. “They think they have everything under control. They think they can drink and drive if they are really careful,” Murphy said.
To expedite getting drunken drivers off the road, DPS has bought nine specialized vans called batmobiles that are equipped to check alcohol levels of drivers on the side of the road.
Murphy said the vehicles are timesavers because taking a suspected DUI for a breath test can take the trooper up to four hours. “That’s time we don’t have a trooper on the road,” he said. “We will have one-stop shopping with the batmobiles.”
The vehicles also ensure that troopers accurately capture the condition of the driver while they’re operating a vehicle.
Two of the new batmobiles were used last week at checkpoints during the Take Back Our Highways blitz in which there were 77 DUI arrests as of Thursday.
The new vans help support the efforts of a specialized unit formed in 2005 to reduce the number of DUI-related crashes. Task Force Zero is made up of state troopers who have made a number of DUI arrests and win DUI court cases, said Lt. Jack Clark.
Most DUI arrests happen between midnight and 4 a.m. But troopers say they see drunken drivers from all walks of life at all hours of the day.
DPS Lt. Tim Pullin said a drunk behind the wheel can be anyone from a housewife to a worker who stopped on the way home for beer.
“But the fatalities are just as tragic,” he added
State Trooper Cpl. Philip Taylor was running radar on Interstate 65 when he noticed a car creeping toward him at 38 mph.
“I began looking at the car. I knew that wasn’t right, so I followed the car. The driver was intoxicated and weaving all over the road,” Taylor said.
Taylor also has seen the tragic impact of an intoxicated person losing control of a vehicle. He recently investigated a crash near Montgomery in which an intoxicated driver crossed the U.S. 231 median. Two people were killed
Drunken drivers in Alabama have become too much of a norm, state troopers say. More than 42 percent of all highway deaths in Alabama last year were alcohol-related, or 475 of 1,110 highway deaths.
The statistic does not surprise Col. Chris Murphy, director of the Alabama Department of Public Safety. “I hate that the number is that high, but drinking and driving is a dangerous combination. A car becomes a weapon,” Murphy said.
DUIs are fatalities waiting to happen, Murphy said.
Alabama ranked No.8 in 2006 among the states with the highest number of alcohol-related road deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
DPS alcohol-related road death data include drunken pedestrians.
The maximum blood-alcohol level under Alabama law is 0.08 grams per deciliter or above. Taylor said the average blood-alcohol level of drunken drivers arrested by state troopers is 1.4 to 1.5.
“The highest was 2.2,” he added
Drunken drivers believe they are infallible. “They think they have everything under control. They think they can drink and drive if they are really careful,” Murphy said.
To expedite getting drunken drivers off the road, DPS has bought nine specialized vans called batmobiles that are equipped to check alcohol levels of drivers on the side of the road.
Murphy said the vehicles are timesavers because taking a suspected DUI for a breath test can take the trooper up to four hours. “That’s time we don’t have a trooper on the road,” he said. “We will have one-stop shopping with the batmobiles.”
The vehicles also ensure that troopers accurately capture the condition of the driver while they’re operating a vehicle.
Two of the new batmobiles were used last week at checkpoints during the Take Back Our Highways blitz in which there were 77 DUI arrests as of Thursday.
The new vans help support the efforts of a specialized unit formed in 2005 to reduce the number of DUI-related crashes. Task Force Zero is made up of state troopers who have made a number of DUI arrests and win DUI court cases, said Lt. Jack Clark.
Most DUI arrests happen between midnight and 4 a.m. But troopers say they see drunken drivers from all walks of life at all hours of the day.
DPS Lt. Tim Pullin said a drunk behind the wheel can be anyone from a housewife to a worker who stopped on the way home for beer.
“But the fatalities are just as tragic,” he added
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