|
The First State was the second state in the nation named a HERO state when Lt. Gov. John C. Carney Jr. signed a proclamation Friday, Aug. 17, to promote designated drivers.
The HERO campaign promotes the use of designated drivers, offering free soft drinks to the chosen chauffeur. The program works in conjunction with community campaigns and bars and restaurants, using posters to promote the effort.
The campaign was started by New Jersey residents Bill and Muriel Elliot after their son, John, a recent Naval Academy graduate, was killed by a drunk driver on his way home from Annapolis, Md., to celebrate his mother’s birthday on July 22, 2000. The driver who killed John had been arrested for impaired driving earlier in the evening but posted bail. At the Naval Academy, John had been named human education resource officer for his service to his fellow midshipmen, so his parents decided to name the program “HERO” in his honor.
The HERO campaign coincides with the ongoing Checkpoint Strikeforce, in operation through the end of the year, throughout the Mid-Atlantic region – Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington, D.C. With New Jersey and Delaware already on board, Pennsylvania is expected to become the third HERO state. Dr. Elizabeth Baker of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said programs such as the HERO campaign and Checkpoint Strikeforce are effective when they cooperate with other states.
That way, drivers know when they leave their state, DUI enforcement will follow. Baker said she would like to see the HERO campaign expand throughout the Mid-Atlantic region and the rest of the country. Checkpoints and arrests have increased in the Mid-Atlantic region since Checkpoint Strikeforce’s inception in 2002. “You have to see it in every state so the brand will resonate with people,” Baker said. “We don’t want them to go state to state and see a different message. To have one cohesive program is more effective.”
The number of DUIs in the state has decreased in each of the past two years, and this year’s number of DUIs is lower than at the same time last year, officials said.
Cpl. Anthony Mendez of the Delaware State Police Collision Reconstruction Unit said he sees a higher number of DUIs in the summer months when tourism is in full swing. And the later at night, the more likely impaired drivers will be on the road.
“After 12 or 1 o’clock in the morning, if you’re on Route 1 and there’s 10 cars at the red light, I’d say about four of them are drunk or have been drinking,” Mendez said.
The days of sitting in dark corridors off to the side of the road are over. Mendez said when he is on saturation patrol he prefers to move around. There are the traditional signs of drunken drivers, such as swerving or driving below the speed limit. He said that other motorists call in to report suspicious drivers and a dispatcher will direct the officer to the driver. The officers work with other stations in bordering towns if necessary.
After probable cause is established, the officer stops a suspected driver and conducts field tests. The tests can include balancing, horizontal gaze nystagmus or a breath test. If a driver is noticeably drunk, police can arrest a driver without a breath test. If drivers are too impaired to drive and police want to take them into custody, the drivers have the right to ask for a breath test. They are not allowed to consume anything orally for 20 minutes before the test. If drivers have no prior records, a sober driver can be called to pick them up. Drivers with multiple DUI convictions may be held in custody longer.
DUI checkpoints are held in random locations so drivers cannot avoid them by changing their route. Mendez and Baker said that checkpoints are designed to be public, so people know before they go out that there is the possibility of arrest if they choose to drive drunk.
“As soon as we set up, every bar in a 20- to 30-mile radius knows that we’re there,” Mendez said. “They must have an announcement or something, which is great, because now the taxi services are booming, the designated drivers are booming and maybe we won’t have a fatal wreck that night.”
There are also officers on saturation patrol in surrounding areas, so drivers that try to bypass the checkpoint are tracked down.
“We want to keep the pressure up,” Baker said. “This is what the campaign is all about. We want to get the word out that impaired driving will not be tolerated.”
Offenders are required to attend classes and get treatment, in hopes of preventing repeat offenses. Community Relations Officer Andrea Summers of the Office of Highway Safety said about 30 percent of DUI arrests are repeat offenders.
The date still resonates in Ginny Beel’s mind: Oct. 28, 1986. That was the night that Beel lost her 33-year old daughter, Bambi Pepper, to a drunken driver. Pepper was driving along Route 9 near Georgetown when a drunk driver with no headlights swerved into her lane and killed her. The driver had been arrested in 1983, 1984 and twice in 1985 for driving under the influence. He was sentenced to seven years in prison for his actions but only served 18 months because the prison was overcrowded. Pepper, a teacher, left behind a 5-year-old daughter.
“What it does to a family is just unbelievable,” Beel said. “When you see these children that have their parents taken away from them because some person chose to be irresponsible and drive drunk, it’s just terrible.”
After the tragedy, Beel went back to work, but she said in her grief, she could no longer function and she filed for early retirement. She moved to a house in North Carolina’s Outer Banks shortly afterward. The house was being constructed while Pepper was still alive, and she planned to vacation with her husband and daughter when the house was built.
Beel moved back to the area in 1991 and she noticed an ad from a woman looking to start a local chapter for Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). Beel has been with the program ever since. She and other MADD members bring food and drinks to officers on patrol. Her goal is to assist authorities so that others will not have to feel the pain she went through.
“Anything I can do to keep it from happening to another daughter, wife or mother is what I’m striving for,” Beel said.
Contact Eddie Phillipps at eddiep@capegazette.com
|
