Law-enforcement agencies throughout the Tucson area are planning an added crackdown on drunken drivers throughout the holidays.
The Southern Arizona DUI Task Force announced at a press conference Wednesday that ramped-up enforcement begins Friday and will continue through the rest of the year.
Pima County sheriff's Lt. Karl Woolridge said the task force — which consists of businesses, law-enforcement agencies and members of the community — will have one or two DUI checkpoints every weekend and deploy 30 to 40 officers whose only job will be to catch drunken drivers.
Officers will patrol for drunken drivers every night, he said.
During the holidays, people who go to parties to have a good time don't always think about getting home sober, so the risk of drunken driving increases, he said.
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"People who wouldn't normally drink and drive put themselves in bad situations," Woolridge said.
In Arizona, alcohol was a factor in 22 percent of fatal wrecks in 2005, said Richard G. Fimbres, the director of the Governor's Office of Highway Safety. In addition to the loss of life, impaired driving cost the state $4.2 million, Fimbres said.
Former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Richard Carmona, who recently became the Sheriff's Department surgeon, said that when he worked in Tucson, he saw the impact drunken driving had on people in the area.
As a trauma surgeon, he saw too many people injured by drunken drivers, he said.
"Years and years of the reality of drunk driving brings it home personally when you see the burden it puts on your community," Carmona said.
Woolridge encouraged people to plan ahead when they go to holiday parties. He said they should designate a sober driver or find another means of transportation.
He added that hosts should also take some responsibility and provide nonalcoholic beverages for their guests and when needed arrange for ways to get them home or find a place for them to spend the night.
