Having a drink? Get a driver

Patrols will be on the lookout tonight for weaving vehicles that might be DUIs.

By MOLLY MOORHEAD, Times Staff Writer
Published December 31, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [Lance Aram Rothstein | Times] Corey Hilton shows one of the folded scooters his Port Richey franchise of Zingo uses to provide rides home for people.

Amateur night is upon us.

That's how Dec. 31 is known among those charged with corralling the revelers who take their party on the road.

"New Year's Eve has always been considered the night for the beginners to go out and practice," said Pasco sheriff's Sgt. Art Rowand. "The hard-core drunks know to stay home."

Rowand leads the county's Selective Traffic Enforcement Patrol Unit. His troops, in a combined effort with other local law enforcement agencies, will be out in force as 2008 dawns. Pasco County roads will be saturated with traffic officers on the hunt for drunken drivers from 8 p.m. tonight through 4 a.m. Tuesday.

Those arrested can look forward to at least eight hours in jail - a timetable based on how long it takes alcohol to dissipate from a person's system.

In order to keep more deputies on the road during the night, the jail transport van will be in use to quickly whisk those arrested to the Land O'Lakes detention center.

In 2006, Pasco County had 593 alcohol-related crashes and 539 alcohol-related injuries, according to state Department of Transportation data. And 38 people died on Pasco roads because of alcohol - eight more than in 2005.

"All you have to do is go to one wreck and see what it can do," Rowand said.

There's also a lighter side to his line of work: "We've had people stop and say 'put me in the back of the car. I'm drunk.'"

Anyone who notices another driver who may be drunk should call the Florida Highway Patrol by cell phone at *FHP *347 or Sheriff's Office dispatch at (727) 844-7711. They just need a location and description of the car. "We have a pretty quick response time," Rowand said. "We'll go look. We do have good luck when people call in."

One solution not encouraged for those who overindulge: walking or riding a bicycle home.

Walking, particularly along busy roads, is dangerous, and drunken cyclists are subject to DUI arrests just like drivers.

The best solutions are well known. Designate a driver.

Call a cab.

Or a scooter.

Corey Hilton owns the Port Richey franchise of Zingo, a company that sends drivers on scooters to people who can't drive home safely. The scooters fold up, the Zingo driver takes customers home in their own car and then leaves on the scooter.

In business a little more than eight months, Hilton is new to amateur night. But he'll have extra scooters at the ready.

"I'm going to have five drivers, which can cover at least 10 to 15 runs an hour," said Hilton, 28.

A pickup in west Pasco costs $15, plus $3 per mile. Anyone with Zingo's number programmed into their phone gets $5 off. "This way they know they're never going to get pulled over," said Hilton. "Plus no one has to worry about being the sober guy."

Molly Moorhead can be reached at moorhead@sptimes.com or (727) 869-6245.

Fast Facts:

For a ride home on New Year's Eve, visit www.zingoportrichey.com. 

Had too much?

For a ride home on New Year's Eve, visit www.zingoportrichey.com.

[Last modified December 30, 2007, 20:59:23]