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| 18 June 2001 “Drunk Drivers, Meet Your New Bartenders" East County Billboard Campaign Warns Motorists Against Driving Drunk RANCHO SAN DIEGO, CA – Five East County law enforcement agencies launched today a billboard campaign aimed at reducing the number of impaired drivers during the summer months. “We will be watching,” said Linda Fulton, a lieutenant with the County of San Diego Sheriff’s Department who was instrumental in posting the first billboard. “We are very committed to reducing impaired driving.” The billboard, located at the intersection of Highway 94 (Campo Road) and Jamacha Road (Highway 54), features five uniformed officers standing in front of jail bars with the message: “Drunk Drivers, Meet Your New BarTenders.” The officers come from the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, the California Highway Patrol, El Cajon and La Mesa police departments and the Border Patrol. “We chose actual officers so that people will know we are very serious about drunk driving,” added Fulton. With summer approaching the five East County law enforcement agencies, spearheaded by the CHP, are coordinating their efforts to remove impaired drivers off the street. Drunk drivers not only endanger their lives but the lives of all those around them. “We need to do everything we can to put a stop to the problem of DUI,” said Captain Charles Braddy, acting chief of police of La Mesa Police Department. “DUI is a serious problem in every community not just in East County.” During the campaign, which will take place throughout the summer months and is expected to last until next year, the agencies will be conducting periodic DUI checkpoints and roving patrols in an effort to keep impaired motorists off the road and save lives. In the United States, alcohol-related crashes kill one person every 33 minutes and injure someone every two minutes. In San Diego County, during 1999, 112 persons were killed and 2,832 injured in alcohol-related crashes. Approximately 1.4 million U.S. drivers are arrested each year for driving under the influence; that’s one out of every 132 motorists. In San Diego County, during 1999, 14,461 drivers were arrested for driving under the influence, resulting in 11,170 convictions. During that same year, 2,256 DUI drivers were apprehended in East County, resulting in 1,782 misdemeanors and 27 felony convictions. This means that during that year, 27 people died or got injured. Alcohol-related crashes also cost society in excess of $120 billion dollars each year. For the driver, the cost of a first DUI could reach $10,000. “Drunk driving affects all of us, not just the people driving under the influence,” said Lorenzo Higley, from Communities Against Substance Abuse (CASA). “Businesses that serve alcohol need to do it responsibly and community residents need to show support for their law enforcement agencies.” Supervisor Dianne Jacob, 2nd District, CASA, the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation, and Discount Tire sponsored the first billboard. Lamar Advertising is donating the space. “We recognize that DUI is a problem and we wanted to help in every way we could,” said Danny Tucker, vice chairman of the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation. Law enforcement agencies appreciate the support and would like for it to increase so that more billboards are posted in the region. “I would like to see billboards in all the major freeways in the East County area,” said Fulton. “I am asking businesses and anyone who wants to contribute to help us have safer roads and create safer East County communities.” Businesses and individuals wishing to contribute to the DUI Billboard Campaign can do it by calling Communities Against Substance Abuse at (619) 442-2727 ext. 101. |
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