Make sure bright colored lights in your rearview mirror don't signal trouble in 2012, lives depend on it

by David Webb

David Webb is a veteran journalist who has written for the mainstream and alternative media for three decades. He is now a freelancer who lives in the Cedar Creek Lake area. He is a regular contributor to cedarcreeklake.com. E-mail story ideas to davidwaynewebb@yahoo.com.

It's going to be especially busy on the roads around Cedar Creek Lake this New Year's Eve, and we're not talking just about the comings and goings of party goers.

The Texas Department of Public Safety has announced stepped up enforcement of drunk driving laws this holiday season, and you can be sure local police departments will be looking for their share of tipsy drivers.

The law enforcement effort, which in Texas is funded by a $1.5 million grant from the Texas Department of Transportation, is part of a nationwide directive from the top.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood kicked off a nationwide crackdown on Dec. 13. The official said the directive was issued in an attempt to remind Americans they risk killing others and themselves if they get behind the wheel drunk or stoned.

He noted that impaired driving fatality statistics for 2010 released by the Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration showed a decrease in many states, but 10,228 or one-third of the fatalities on American highways still involved intoxication.

The fatality statistics spiked during the second half of December when drinking traditionally becomes more prevalent apparently because of holiday parties. The U.S. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism reported that 40 percent of traffic deaths during the Christmas and New Year's Eve holidays involved drunk driving.

In Texas the statistics were just as bleak,if not more so as the state's highways are known for being some of the most deadly. Drinking drivers who took to the road in 2010 were responsible for 1,102 or 36.4 percent of Texas' 3,024 road fatalities.

In December 2010 247 people were killed on the roads, and 87 or 28.3 percent of those fatalities involved drunk driving.

The bottom line is that everyone who wakes up on New Year's Day -- whether it be safe and sound in their own beds, on a friend's sofa, in bed with a friend or even in jail with a bunch of strangers -- will be the fortunate ones.

Many people who try to drive home won't ever get a second chance to make a better decision, and a lot of people who didn't drive will also get killed in the process.

For those who wake up in jail, it's not going to be a fun year -- especially if someone has been injured or killed.

In Texas, what is known as an "Extreme DWI Law" went into effect Sept. 1. The threshold blood alcohol content for being declared legally drunk and arrested is 0.08, but a new law was passed targeting "hardcore drunk drivers" that elevates the charge beyond a Class B Misdemeanor.

Hardcore drunk driving refers to drivers who get behind the wheel with blood alcohol contents of 0.15 or higher, repeatedly do it and or resistant to change. Those individuals will be charged with Class A Misdemeanors and subject to much more severe penalties that include up to a $4,000 fine, up to a year in jail, driver's license revocation and counseling and community service.

The penalties get worse if a driver has previous drunk driving convictions, an accident was involved or if someone was killed or injured.

The estimated cost for a drunk driving charge these days is about $20,000 when you consider bonding costs, legal fees, fines, probation costs and increased insurance rates, according to alcohol abuse awareness educators. Anyone arrested on a drunk driving charge is going to spend a minimum of 72 hours in jail and six days if an open container is found in the car.

It makes great sense for anyone who wants to drink on New Year's Eve to find a designated driver who won't drink, hire a cab or do whatever else it takes not to get behind the wheel.

If anyone feels like they just can't avoid drunk driving, it's time to go see the folks at Alcoholics Anonymous before the next party starts.
If you don't, it might be the last party you ever attend.

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