Highway Patrol's DUI team will debut over 4th of July
By RICHARD WALKER, T&D Staff Writer Friday, July 03, 2009The Highway Patrol is cracking down on drunk driving with a special enforcement team expected to on the prowl the July 4 holiday weekend.
In a statewide announcement Wednesday, the South Carolina Highway Patrol introduced an anti-drunk driving team.
“The Highway Patrol and the (state) Department of Public Safety have launched a DUI team,” Troop 7’s Lt. Keith Grice said. “Their primary job is to seek out DUI-related incidents and arrest alcohol-related violations.”
The 31-member team will take to the state’s highways early Friday, Grice said, to coincide with the long weekend.
Three members of the DUI team will not be required to answer calls for service or work accidents unless the incident is exceptional.
The three troopers drawn from Troop 7 were selected for their knowledge of the area, including Orangeburg and Calhoun counties.
“They know the area where they need to patrol,” Grice said. “Last year, one out of three fatalities was a DUI. They know these problem areas.”
Although the troopers were pulled from the local troop, officials say the regular road patrols will not suffer as a result since troopers’ schedules have been shifted.
Of last year’s fatal car crashes in the seven counties of Troop 7, 18 were related to drunk driving, officials say, and eight of those were in Orangeburg and Calhoun counties.
“Last year, the (state) death rate was 49 percent alcohol-related, which is intolerable,” Cpl. Paul Brouthers said.
The team will focus its attention initially this weekend on the U.S. 321 corridor, U.S. 15 and the Santee and Holly Hill areas of Orangeburg County.
“The message we want to get to the public is if you drink and drive, you’re going to lose,” Grice said. “Every time we go to a scene of tragedy, people just won’t get the message.”
Part of that message got a little louder earlier this year.
The concept for an enforcement team aimed directly at drunk drivers came about with the tougher drunk driving laws that went into effect in February.
Drunk drivers now face varying penalties, depending on whether they’re slightly tipsy or grossly intoxicated.
The law created a tiered penalty system based on how many times drivers are convicted and how much alcohol they have in their system. The blood-alcohol limit is 0.08 percent. The new penalties get harsher at 0.10 percent and again at 0.16 percent.
For a first offense charge, a defendant can be looking at a $400 fine and a mandatory two days in jail. If convicted of a fourth or greater offense, the penalty can go up to a maximum of seven years in prison.
The team’s effort isn’t just for the July 4 holiday. Brouthers said the holiday only marks the team’s debut on the Palmetto State’s roads.
“This is a permanent team,” Brouthers said. “It will be repeated on certain days for certain areas.”
In addition, the three-member team in Troop 7 can be augmented by other team members, if need be, Brouthers said.
“He (Grice) can bring units from other troops to compliment his team,” he said. “It’s a part of something bigger; they can supply a number of troopers.”
Grice said the Highway Patrol DUI team will be coordinating their effort with that of area municipalities to decrease drunk driving throughout the community.
“No matter what uniform you wear, we all are trying to protect the community and keep those individuals from hurting somebody or catch them before they hurt themselves,” Grice said.
n T&D Staff Writer Richard Walker can be reached by e-mail at rwalker@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5516.
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