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Published on Monday, December 22, 2003
in the Melbourne Florida Today
MELBOURNE, Fla. - Not everyone on the roads this holiday weekend will be headed home for the holidays - police officers in both marked and unmarked vehicles will be on the roads looking for impaired and aggressive drivers.
With travel experts predicting more traffic on the roadways this Christmas because of low gas prices and people opting to drive instead of fly, most law enforcement agencies will be participating in their annual "You Drink, You Drive, You Lose" campaign through Jan. 4.
Florida’s estimated projections include 2.9 million traveling by car and an additional 830,000 by plane, according to AAA South. Nationwide, nearly 60 million people are projected to travel 50 miles or more from home during the holidays.
In Brevard, the Florida Highway Patrol will have every available officer out on the highways and state roads, said Sgt. Channing Taylor.
"We've suspended office operations during the holidays," Taylor said. "So, unless we need to stop by and pick up a ticket book or some paperwork, we'll be out on the roads."
So far this year, there have been 55 traffic fatality cases in Brevard County, which is a significant decrease over 2002 in which 75 people died on Brevard roadways, Taylor said.
The Brevard Sheriff's office and municipal police agencies also plan to be out on the highways looking not only for drunk or drugged drivers, police will also be on the look out for those not wearing their seat belts.
Florida's safety-belt law says all front-seat passengers must be buckled up, regardless of age. Children younger than 6 must be properly restrained, and drivers are held responsible for any passengers younger than 16 who are not buckled.
Break the law, and it could cost you:
Safety-belt citations will cost motorists $63; child-restraint violations cost as much as $93, with three points added to a driver's record.
"You Drink & Drive, You Lose" is part of a national campaign started in 1999 by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The national goal is to lower the DUI annual death toll to no more than 11,000 by the year 2005. In 2001, there were 37,795 traffic fatalities nationwide involving alcohol, the NHTSA reported.
Last year in Brevard, 35 people died in traffic accidents involving alcohol and 525 were injured. Statistics for this year were unavailable.