Patrols to scour roads for drunks

Law enforcement officials want partygoers to remember that impaired driving starts at one beer.

By STEPHANIE HAYES
Published December 31, 2005

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TAMPA - Whether New Year's Eve imbibing has you seeing double or just a little blurry, getting behind the wheel of a car is not a good plan.

"A lot of people have the misconception, "I've only had a couple beers, I'm okay to drive," said Florida Highway Patrol spokesman Larry Coggins. "Two beers is too many."

Coggins said patrol cars will be on the road in full force tonight. The Florida Sheriff's Association, the Florida Police Chief's Association and the FHP are banding together for "Operation Lights for Life," a statewide effort to keep drunken drivers off the road and remember those killed in alcohol-related accidents.

Coggins said for him, it's personal.

"Everybody knows somebody who has been affected by a drunk driver," he said. "Here on the Highway Patrol, we've buried two troopers killed by drunk drivers."

FHP investigators and supervisors will join troopers on the streets, and extra Pinellas and Hillsborough sheriff's deputies from DUI and traffic enforcement units also will be on the road.

Tampa and St. Petersburg police plan to step up the vigilence.

"Make your plans early," Tampa police spokesman Joe Durkin said. "Choose a designated driver so you get home safely and avoid the possibility of injuring yourself or others."

Last year in Florida, 38 people were killed in traffic accidents on New Year's weekend, about a third of them alcohol-related. New Year's is the second deadliest holiday weekend, behind Thanksgiving, when many people have four days off.

Coggins warned that even those who don't cause accidents can end up behind bars if alcohol is involved.

"The person that has one or two, they go down the road and they're driving fine, and they get in an accident where somebody hits them," he said. "They end up going to jail. Don't put yourself in that spot."