Drunken driving could cost you more than cash

You don’t have to go gently after that great goodnight, but you darn sure better not go drunk.

Albemarle County police have been looking for impaired and intoxicated drivers since Aug. 21 and they’re staying out until after Labor Day, just to keep a lid on things.

The effort is part of Checkpoint Strikeforce, a national enforcement program joined by departments everywhere to stop drunks. It continues until Sept. 7.

Overtime tab picked up

If the road looks fuzzy to you tonight, your eyes are fine. According to Sgt. Pete Mainzer, of the county police traffic division, many officers will be patrolling the roads looking for erratic driving and other hints of impairment. A federal grant will pay for overtime.

“We’re going to be placing an emphasis on impaired driving and we’ll be having otherwise off-duty police officers out looking,” Sgt. Mainzer said. “We’ll have at least one major DUI sobriety checkpoint during the period as well.”

You never know when a checkpoint might crop up, Sgt. Mainzer said. Why, it could even be tonight (wink-wink).

“There were 821 traffic deaths in Virginia last year and 43 percent of those deaths were alcohol related,” Sgt. Mainzer explained. “In 2007, there were an estimated 13,000 traffic deaths nationwide where people had blood-alcohol levels of .08 percent or higher. 13,000 deaths because of impaired driving; it highlights the significance of the problem.”

The county had 11 traffic deaths in 2008, excluding wrecks on Interstate 64. In four of those deaths, alcohol was a contributing factor, Sgt. Mainzer said. That was a drop from 16 deaths in 2007, a decline the sergeant credits to greater enforcement of traffic laws.

“We got aggressive in our enforcement effort and dropped the number of deaths and this year we’re holding pretty steady at six,” he said. “We haven’t had a death since Memorial Day weekend and we’re pretty happy with that.”

Holidays + booze = trouble

Sgt. Mainzer said the major holidays create major traffic jams, as well as major social gatherings. The combination also creates fatalities.

“Last year, Labor Day was in the middle as far as the holiday with most deaths, with seven in Virginia. In 2007 there were 22 deaths during the holiday and it led all of the holidays,” he said. “We’re making a lot of improvements in regards to legislation and education of drivers and in enforcement, but we still need to change people’s minds about drunk driving.”

While most residents find slayings to be a source of worry, they don’t see traffic crashes in the same light, the sergeant noted.

“Most people support police efforts when it comes to assaults and thefts and burglaries, but people still think of drunk driving as a traffic offense,” Sgt. Mainzer said. “We enforce traffic laws because driving can be dangerous. If we had 11 homicides in the county instead of traffic deaths, people would feel terribly unsafe.”