Driving Safely This Holiday Season
A column by Gov. Dennis Daugaard:
It won’t be long before South Dakotans will be hitting the road to visit family and friends for the holiday season. Traveling to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas with loved ones is well worth it, but holiday driving can turn tragic when impaired drivers take to the road.
Despite positive trends over the last few decades, we must still do more to stop drunk driving. Last year, 47 people died in alcohol-related accidents. That’s why we have stepped up our efforts to improve road safety and battle impaired driving.
The South Dakota Highway Patrol has increased its number of DUI checkpoints and patrols, resulting in 416 scheduled enforcement actions in 2014. The Highway Patrol is utilizing crash data to determine the most effective dates, times and locations for carrying out these efforts.
The Highway Patrol is also partnering with local law enforcement to conduct those checkpoints, to initiate joint media efforts for increased awareness and to provide officers with special training in advanced roadside impaired driving enforcement.
For repeat DUI offenders, we’ve learned that prison is not always the best way to improve safety. Under the Public Safety Improvement Act, we have increased penalties while simultaneously improving supervision and enhancing community-based treatment efforts.
A key piece of this effort is DUI and Drug courts. Since I took office, we have increased the capacity of these courts by 500 percent. These programs have been utilized around the country to hold offenders accountable through intensive community supervision, while also providing tools to address the root causes of impaired driving – alcoholism and substance abuse. Instead of being incarcerated at great expense, participants are supervised in their communities where they can continue to support their families.
It’s still early and we have yet to see the full impact of this expansion. Right now, the DUI court program currently has an 86 percent rate of retention. We are hopeful this model will lead to fewer DUI offenders who reoffend.
We are also continuing our efforts in the 24/7 program, which helps DUI offenders stay sober 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Those who complete the 24/7 program are only about half as likely to reoffend within three years. South Dakota has been a national leader in this program, and our successful model has been replicated across the country.
These are just a few ways we are striving to reduce the number of DUI offenders. But we can’t do it alone. We need your help.
As you travel this fall, remember to buckle up, slow down and take the keys from those unfit to drive. Be safe and have a great holiday season.
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