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Published on Friday, December 31, 2004
in the Lake City Reporter
To catch drivers who drink this New Year's Eve and then get on the road, Florida Highway Patrol is increasing its weekend patrol.
Finding drunk drivers will be their main focus, but speeding drivers and people not wearing seat belts will also be on their list.
About 20 troopers will patrol each day throughout the area and will concentrate on county and state roads. The troopers will be in marked and unmarked cars.
The FHP sets up special operations during holidays, adding extra troopers to each shift, said Lt. Mike Burroughs, a spokesman for the FHP.
As of today, administrative duties have been suspended so that all troopers can be out on the streets. More overtime pay is available to encourage officers who aren't scheduled to work to put in extra hours patrolling. For the FHP, visibility is as important as catching traffic violations.
"We are encouraging the motoring public they need to be at their destination by nightfall and should stay off the roads until daylight," Burroughs said. "It can help in keeping them out of harms way."
The FHP implented a program on Dec. 17 named Operation Safe Streets, which targets drunk drivers. The operation consists of six hand-picked troopers who have a record of high DUI arrests. So far, 16 arrests have been credited to this program.
Trooper Henry Ortiz, who will work Friday during the day shift, said most people who drink and drive do it on New Year's Eve. But it's not surprising, he said, to find people drinking a day or two in advance and drive drunk in the morning.
To discourage drunk driving, businesses are offering alternatives to either drinking or driving.
Some area restaurants, in partnership with the Columbia County Community Traffic Safety Team, will provide non-alcoholic drinks free of charge to designated drivers for the fifth straight year. The program, which will last until Jan. 1, can be found at Applebee's, Beef O'Brady's, Phish Heads, Porterhouse Grill, Red Lobster, R.J. Gator's, Ruby Tuesday, Texas Roadhouse and Tucker's Fine Dining.
In its sixth year, the AAA Auto Club South and Budweiser's Tow to Go program offers free rides and free tows to people who are drunk. According to AAA, more than 1,300 people took advantage of the program last year.
The program, which runs from Thanksgiving Day through New Year's Day, receives the most calls on New Year's Eve.