MAHONING VALLEY Area programs begin holiday driving campaigns

Impaired driving kills someone in America every 30 minutes.
By WILLIAM K. ALCORN
VINDICATOR HEALTH WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- The Safe Community programs in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties are launching their holiday safe driving campaigns this week by warning motorists with the theme: "You Drink & amp; Drive. You Lose."
Local and state law enforcement organizations will be out in full force, from Friday to Jan. 4, 2004, to arrest and prosecute impaired drivers to the fullest extent of the law, said Tracy Styka, Mahoning County Health District Mahoning Safe Communities coordinator.
There will be no warnings for people who violate the state's impaired driving laws, Styka said.
Many otherwise law-abiding citizens continue to view impaired driving merely as a traffic offense, not a crime, and are not aware of the possible consequences, Styka said.
Could face prison
Violators can lose their licenses, time from their jobs, and money in fines and court costs, as well as possibly face imprisonment.
More important, impaired driving kills someone in America every 30 minutes. Last year in Ohio, 341 people were killed in alcohol-related crashes, representing about 27 percent of the 1,284 traffic fatalities in 2002, Styka said.
In addition to being part of the Safe Communities effort, Jacki Delanzo, injury prevention director for the Columbiana County Health Department, said particular emphasis is placed on seat-belt usage. The reason, she said, is that Columbiana drivers had the lowest seat-belt usage -- 60 percent -- in the state in 2001 and 2002.
The Ohio Department of Safety has stopped providing county-by-county seat-belt use statistics, so the county health department is conducting its own survey to determine if seat-belt usage is improving, Delanzo said.
Kim Peters, coordinator of the Safe Communities program in Trumbull County, is also head of the Trumbull County DUI Task Force.
There will be saturation patrolling and sobriety checkpoints by law enforcement agencies during the holiday period, Peters said.
2002 statistics
She said Trumbull County had 33 traffic deaths in 2002, 17 of which were alcohol related, placing the county in the top 10 in the state for alcohol-related traffic deaths.
Peters said Trumbull Safe Communities does public awareness sessions on traffic safety, with emphasis on alcohol use, excessive speed, and aggressive driving, as well as anything else that relates to traffic safety.
The key to improving traffic safety is to take a systematic approach with law enforcement, prosecutors, judicial officials, traffic safety partners and individuals each doing their part to protect innocent victims from impaired drivers, Styka said.
Individuals can report impaired drivers to law enforcement by calling (800) GRAB-DUI, or cellular DUI.