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Police see increase in DWIs from a year ago |
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Friday, 19 June 2009 |
Three in every 10 Americans will be involved in an alcohol-related crash at some time in their lives and, on average, a person is killed by a drunk driver every 40 minutes, statistics indicate.
In Benton, the number of driving while intoxicated arrests nearly doubled last month compared to May 2008, Police Chief Kirk Lane said. The numbers increased from 23 to 41, he said.
Part of the increase is the result of DWI checkpoint initiatives during May as well as the national “Click It or Ticket” campaign and Child Passenger Safety Seat checks. Benton and Bryant police departments, Arkansas State Police and Saline County Sheriff’s Office worked together on this effort to help make the county roadways safer.
“The traffic safety initiative is about saving lives by reducing traffic crashes and encouraging safe practices to reduce injuries when they do occur,” Lt. Kevin Russell of the Benton Police Department explained.
The local law enforcement agencies closed out the month of May with DWI checkpoints, which helped increase the number of DWI arrests. But the spike in DWI arrests from May 2008 to May 2009 is still alarming to not only police officers, but to every motorist, said Teresa Belew, executive director the Arkansas chapter of MADD. She said people are forgetting how important it is to stop and prevent drunk drivers on the roadways.
“People are somewhat lackadaisical about the efforts to stop drunk drivers,” she said. “Surveys say that people drink and drive 87 times before being caught, and that is by their own admission on those surveys. Statistics also show that five people a week die in drunk-driving accidents. Forty percent of all traffic fatalities are drunk-driving related.”
“If a sniper was shooting five people a week, people would demand that law enforcement officers do something,” Belew added. “So what is the difference of them stopping drunk drivers?”
The number of accidents has also increased from May 2008 with 106 to 129 accidents in May 2009, but Lane said there could be another plausible reason for the occurrence. He said “a lot of inclement weather” was a definite factor for the increase. However, Lane said, the department is conducting numerous studies to determine how to help reduce accidents in Saline County.
One such study is determining what roadways and intersections have the most traffic accidents. Russell said the studies are done four times a year and are also being used to help teach the public traffic safety.
“We hope through these studies and public education, we can reduce the number of accidents on our roadways,” he said. “I think the street department can also look at the information to also help alleviate problem areas for vehicle traffic.”
Russell and Lane added that DWI checkpoints, along with other interagency traffic safety initiative could be more frequent in Saline County’s future. Russell added that there are also programs to help reward drivers, particularly teenagers, for being safe drivers.
Lane said the Benton Police Department will also have another Operation Lifesaver event with Union Pacific Railroad sometime this year. Operation Lifesaver is a nonprofit, international continuing public education program first established in 1972 to end collisions, deaths and injuries at places where roadways cross train tracks and on railroad rights-of-way. The program seeks to educate both drivers and pedestrians to make safe decisions at crossings and around railroad tracks. This will also provides an opportunity for officers and media to ride on the train and better understand the dangers train engineers encounter every day on the tracks, Russell said.
Benton Mayor Rick Holland also commented on the local law enforcement agencies’ continuous initiatives to help rid the roadways of drunk drivers and lower the number of traffic accidents. He said the officers’ efforts are important for all residents, visitors and people driving through Saline County.
“I believe as word gets out about the DWI checkpoints, people will be less likely to drink and drive here,” Holland said. “This gives us a chance to make our streets safer, and they are all working together to catch the bad guys. When they are out here, there is no politics involved. They are all professionals and all seem to work together really well here in Saline County. I think that is a testament to strong leadership in all those [law enforcement] agencies.”
While Belew said she is grateful for the numerous arrests made in May to help rid the roadways of drunk drivers, she does not consider the efforts a success.
“[DWI checkpoints] are really not a ‘gotcha’ effort,” she said. “It really is about prevention and keeping our roadways safe, but a successful [DWI] checkpoint is no DWI arrests.”
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