Designated driver best call for avoiding DUI

With an aggressive police crackdown on drunken driving under way, and long waiting lists expected for taxicabs on New Year’s Eve, designated drivers could be the best option for revelers to get home safely. Trooper Mark Baker said drivers will be taking a big chance if they drive drunk Saturday night: “We are absolutely out there in force.”

The Washington State Patrol in Spokane made 60 drunken driving arrests during the Christmas weekend, Baker said.

Eight of those were before 4 p.m. on Christmas Eve.

“It was a pretty busy weekend,” Baker said.

Drunken driving tends to increase during the holidays. WSP, the Spokane Police Department and Idaho authorities have responded with holiday programs that put more officers on the highways.

WSP has made more than 350 DUI arrests since beginning the extra patrols Nov. 15.

Trooper Barry Marcus said getting drunken drivers off the road is one of the core missions of the WSP.

“We motivate ourselves to go out and get as many as we can,” he said.

Sgt. Joe Walker of the Spokane Police Traffic Unit said eight to 10 more officers will be on the street Saturday night.

New Year’s Eve will be the last of five special weekend patrols since late November.

Officers will be watching for any violations, including speeding and illegal lane usage, to help identify drunken drivers.

“We stop cars for a lot of different reasons, and if (drivers) have been drinking, we go from there,” Baker said.

Approximately 44 percent of traffic fatalities in Washington involve alcohol or drugs, he said.

WSP has made 2,398 DUI arrests so far this year, about 180 fewer than last year.

Better decision-making by drivers has helped bring that number down.

“DUIs are getting harder to find,” Baker said, “but we’re still finding them.”

Bettie Simmons, president of AA Auto Towing, said people are starting to recognize New Year’s as a dangerous weekend for drinking and driving.

In past years, local towing companies have offered free services to keep intoxicated people off the road, but the program was discontinued this year, she said.

It may be resurrected next year.

“We all think it’s a really good idea,” Simmons said. “We just didn’t get there.”

Partygoers might want to hail their cabs early.

Taxicab companies said Saturday will probably be the busiest night of the year for the dozens of cabs working the Spokane area.

“Typically, it’s more than we can handle,” said Bob Merrill, a dispatcher with Yellow Cab.

“We’ll have every car that we have available out on the street.”

Area taxi-service operators said that because of the high demand, they will not accept reservations New Year’s Eve night.

“That night is a very, very lucrative night for cab driving,” said Sam Sames of Spokane Cab.