December 20, 2004

Efforts in Michigan to combat drunk driving are getting a boost this holiday season. Law enforcement officials today announced the start of a statewide You Drink & Drive. You Lose. crackdown along with a special $800,000 grant to assist the Michigan State Police (MSP) Toxicology/Blood Alcohol Unit with increasing turnaround for drunk and drugged driving cases.

Starting today, law enforcement officers from more than 500 agencies across the state will be on the lookout for drunk drivers during the You Drink & Drive. You Lose. crackdown, which runs through Jan. 2, 2005.

The Office of Highway Safety Planning (OHSP) is coordinating this statewide drunk driving crackdown by providing federal traffic safety funds to more than 100 agencies to boost patrols in selected areas and by funding paid advertising to ensure widespread awareness of the crackdown.

Last year, despite similar warnings from law enforcement, more than 2,700 individuals were arrested for alcohol-related offenses during this holiday enforcement period.

"The simplest way to avoid being caught drunk driving is not to mix drinking with driving," said Colonel Tadarial J. Sturdivant, director of the Michigan State Police. "If you choose to drink this holiday season, do so responsibly by using alternate transportation."

At the same time law enforcement will be arresting drunk drivers, forensic scientists at the MSP Toxicology/Blood Alcohol Unit will be processing blood and urine samples submitted from law enforcement agencies across the state.

As Michigan has gotten tougher on drunk and drugged driving, this unit has experienced a large increase in casework. Over the past nine years, the caseload for alcohol testing has increased from 9,357 cases in 1994 to 14,025 in 2003, and the number of samples requiring drug analysis has nearly quadrupled from 859 cases in 1994 to 3,675 in 2003.

This steady increase in caseload was compounded by changes in the drunk driving law in 2003, which made .08 blood-alcohol content (BAC) the standard for drunk driving and added a "per se" provision for Schedule I drugs such as cocaine and marijuana. Under this provision, it only needs to be proven that an individual has the drug in their blood system, not that they were impaired by it.

To help the unit address this increase in caseload, OHSP has awarded the MSP Forensic Science Division an $800,000 traffic safety grant, which will provide for the hiring of three forensic scientists and the purchase of additional equipment used to process samples for alcohol and drug analysis

"This grant will allow the Michigan State Police Forensic Science Division to hire additional personnel and purchase the equipment necessary to alleviate the backlog of toxicology samples that has resulted from changes in the state's drug and alcohol laws," Sturdivant said. "This funding will help to move drug and alcohol screenings through our system quicker, ensuring dangerous drivers are removed from our roads and not a threat to the motoring public."

In spite of the progress that has been made to reduce drunk driving, nearly 34 percent of all traffic fatalities in Michigan still involve alcohol and/or drugs. In 2003, 442 people died and 9,315 were injured in alcohol and/or drug-related crashes on Michigan roadways. During last year’s You Drink & Drive. You Lose. crackdown, there were six Christmas holiday traffic fatalities and seven traffic deaths during the New Year’s holiday. Of those fatalities, three involved alcohol.

A two-week cable and radio advertising campaign highlighting just how well law enforcement officers can determine if a driver has been drinking also begins today. The advertising buy will employ the use of television, cable and radio spots in the state’s major media markets, which include Battle Creek, Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Lansing and Saginaw.

The 22 counties receiving federal traffic safety funding for overtime patrols include: Bay, Berrien, Calhoun, Delta, Ingham, Genesee, Grand Traverse, Jackson, Kalamazoo, Kent, Leelanau, Livingston, Macomb, Marquette, Monroe, Muskegon, Oakland, Ottawa, Saginaw, St. Clair, Washtenaw and Wayne counties.

Read more news releases from the Michigan State Police.