THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 16, 1994 TAG: 9411160428
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines
Drinking and driving in North Carolina just got a lot more dangerous.
It's already been established, state officials say, that drunken drivers cost 469 lives in the state last year and have run up an annual tab of $1 billion in health care, insurance and other costs.
Now, for the next three weeks, it's a lot more probable that people driving while impaired are going to get caught.
Law enforcement officials across the state are cracking down on DWIs through Dec. 4 with a web of sobriety checkpoints aimed at catching drinking drivers in the act.
``They'll certainly get the message,'' said Joe Parker, director of the Governor's Highway Safety Program, which is overseeing the ``Booze It & Lose It'' campaign. ``Some people only learn by being arrested, unfortunately.''
Parker will be in Elizabeth City today for a 7:30 a.m. kickoff breakfast at BJ's restaurant downtown. City and county leaders are scheduled to attend, as is an official from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The city is receiving extra attention during the statewide push as one of four ``technology test sites.'' Elizabeth City officers will be armed with super-sensitive passive alcohol sensors that can help determine if drivers need more careful scrutiny, Parker said.
Officers at checkpoints will also cite motorists for obvious violations not related to drinking, such as driving without a license or with expired tags, said Elizabeth City Police Lt. J.C. Spear.
But the focus is on drinking drivers.
``People are gonna go out and they're gonna party,'' Spear said. ``But what they need to do is get someone else to drive.''
As part of the Elizabeth City program, drug awareness group Project Voice is forming a coalition to educate people about the dangers of drinking and driving. The group is helping to sponsor this morning's breakfast and a bonfire on Halstead Boulevard scheduled for Saturday.
``Pretty much everyone has been affected in some way by drinking and driving,'' said Susanne Edwards, a Project Voice member and health education coordinator with the Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Schools. ``It's really amazing how much that reaches out and touches the population.''
The group says it will work with local bars and taxicab operators to encourage responsible drinking, designated drivers and alternative means of getting home after a night out.
Edwards also said the high cost for first-time DWI offenders - the highway safety office says costs could run more than $6,000 for fines, insurance and courts - will deter people from making mistakes.
``The more people that find out what kind of costs they're going to incur if they get stopped, hopefully they will think twice before they get behind the wheel of a car,'' Edwards said.
The three-week crackdown will be followed by a close study of how enforcement efforts affected DWIs, highway safety officials said. A similar program targeting seat-belt use last year boosted the number of people who buckle up, Parker said.
Local law enforcement officers for now are concentrating on the present.
``It's gonna be a long three weeks,'' said 1st Sgt. D.G. Dail of the N.C. Highway Patrol, who's overseeing DWI efforts in Camden and Perquimans counties. by CNB