Police step up DWI patrols

Superblitz planned for this weekend

Staci Matlock | The New Mexican

7/3/2008 - 7/4/08

Increased patrols, the DrunkBusters hot line and a more involved public are helping whittle down the number of DWI-related crashes in New Mexico, according to state officials.

The state police are a month into the 100 Days and Nights of Summer campaign, saturating different roads with patrols and setting up sobriety checkpoints. The program also puts more undercover law enforcement officers into concerts and other venues that serve alcohol, looking for underage drinking. It is the second year for the program, which ends Sept. 8, according to state police spokesman Peter Olson.

"Summer time is a deadly time for driving. We see the most concentrated amount of accidents and fatalities in the summer," Olson said.

Olson said the number of alcohol related fatalities since the beginning of the year is down 40 percent compared to the same time last year, dropping from 83 to 53. "That's significant, especially if it is someone in your family that didn't die in an alcohol-related crash," Olson said.

Gov. Bill Richardson announced a whole slew of new DWI initiatives aimed at keeping drunken-driving problems in the public eye. Beginning this week, the Department of Public Safety will send a courtesy letter to the registered owners of vehicles reported to the state's #DWI DrunkBusters hot line, warning them someone was driving erratically in their car and they are in jeopardy of violating DWI laws. "We want drunk drivers to know that their fellow citizens are noticing and reporting unsafe driving," Rachel O'Connor, the state's DWI Czar, said in a news release.

Last year, the state received 16,000 calls to the DrunkBuster hot line, Olson said. Six of those callers were honored with awards for making calls that resulted in DWI arrests. They were Jimmy Bridge of Tularosa, Emmit Brooks of Las Cruces, Samantha Chavez of Albuquerque, Patricia Mabry of Moriarty, Randy Roybal of Albuquerque and Jaycie Silva of Las Vegas, N.M.

A DWI Superblitz is planned through this weekend, and the state is using the airwaves to spread the anti-DWI message, launching a new media campaign, called Remorse, on television and radio. The ad depicts a backyard picnicker driving after drinking at a family event and ending up in jail.

The state also is testing a new noninvasive device for measuring blood alcohol content. The devices, manufactured by TruTouch Technologies Inc. in Albuquerque, use a sensor light shone on a person's skin to collect data about the amount of alcohol consumed. The results are comparable to breath tests.

Since Feb. 1, at least 41 men and women ranging in age from 18 to 81 have died across the state in car accidents involving alcohol. The victims included Tibetan activist Lobsang Lhalungpa, 81, who was killed when the car he was riding in was hit by a suspected drunken driver pulling out of a St. Michael's Drive business. Another Santa Fe resident, Monica Romero, was hit and killed on Airport Road in June by a hit-and-run driver.


Contact Staci Matlock at 470-9843 or smatlock@sfnewmexican.com