Accidents like that dramatize why Homer Police Chief Mark Robl calls driving under the influence the second-worst alcohol-related crime. He rates domestic violence assault as the worst.
In 2003, Homer Police made 91 DUI arrests. Three of those were felony DUIs, for drivers who had two DUI convictions since Jan. 1, 1996. Police also issued 60 warnings for DUI in contacts where police did not find the driver legally intoxicated, but suspected enough impairment that they warned the driver to quit driving. According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice, in fatal accidents with a drinking driver, 12 percent of drivers had a BAC of .05 or less.
In 1992, the drunk driving rate in Homer peaked at an all-time high of 200 DUI arrests, Robl said. In response, Homer Police took a hard look at enforcing DUI laws. Using state and federal grants, police increased patrols from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. They made more bar checks, educated bartenders about not serving intoxicated patrons and passed out brochures at bars about the penalties for DUI. Three years later, arrests dropped by half.
"We think it was pretty effective," Robl said. "We try to be aggressive with DUIs."
Alaska law sets the legal limit of alcohol intoxication at a blood-alcohol content of .08 percent by weight of alcohol in a person's blood or .08 grams per 210 liters of the person's breath. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, at .08, driving performance drops at a rate of between 60 and 70 percent. A report by the U.S. Bureau of Justice, "Alcohol and Crime," states that in fatal accidents with a drinking driver, 84 percent of the drivers had a .08 or higher blood-alcohol content, 38 percent had a BAC of .20, 40 percent had a BAC between .10 and .19, 5 percent had a BAC between .08 and .09 and 12 percent had a BAC of .05 or less. Between midnight and 3 a.m., at least 60 percent of drinking drivers in fatal accidents had a .10 or higher BAC the reason police increase patrols at night.
Based on a person's weight, the number of drinks a 12-ounce glass of beer, a 5-ounce glass of wine or 1-ounce of spirits consumed in an hour to reach a .08 BAC varies. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, to hit a .08 BAC, the number of drinks consumed in one hour on an empty stomach for a person weighing between 90 and 129 pounds is two drinks. For a person between 130 and 169 pounds it's three drinks and for someone 210 pounds or more it's five drinks.
A Homer police officer's mission on patrol is crime detection and prevention, Robl said. That includes traffic patrol. Police can stop drivers suspected of equipment violations such as a broken taillight or traffic violations. Police also look for driving patterns typical of drunk drivers, such as weaving across lanes of traffic, slowing up or speeding down or other erratic driving. Police also stop drivers as a result of citizen complaints, called a REDDI, for "report every drunk driver immediately." Robl said that with more people carrying cell phones, REDDI calls have gone up, although police don't always catch every suspected REDDI.
When police contact a driver for a traffic stop, Robl said the stop can become a DUI investigation if police notice erratic driving or such things as watery eyes, open alcoholic beverage containers or an odor of alcohol on the driver. Police ask the driver if he or she has been drinking, and if so, how much. If the driver has slurred speech or other mannerisms, the officer then has a reasonable suspicion the person might be intoxicated, Robl said.
Police can then give the driver a field-sobriety test, or FST, Robl said. The FST has several parts testing balance and ability to think coherently, such as standing on one leg and walking and turning. To test cognitive ability, a driver might be asked to say the alphabet forward and backward, or to count backward and forward. Police also administer the horizontal-gaze nystagmus, or HGN, test. In this test, an officer passes a pen in front of the driver's eyes, looking for twitches in the eyes.
If a driver fails the FST, police have probable cause to ask the suspect to take a preliminary breath-test on a portable machine, Robl said. Refusal to submit to a field test is a traffic violation.
If a driver "blows" a .08, police can make a DUI arrest. Robl said police can make a DUI arrest without a breath-test and on the basis of other evidence or if the suspect blows below a .08.
When a DUI suspect is being booked, a second, more accurate test is administered, the breath-alcohol test. Homer Police and Alaska State Troopers used the DataMaster test. Suspects can request an independent blood-alcohol test.
If a driver blows below a .08 and police suspect impairment, they warn the driver not to drive, Robl said.
Drivers who score .05 or higher are impaired enough that they shouldn't be driving, he said.
Police will make sure an impaired driver is off the road and will call a cab, a friend or a relative.
"Whatever they want," Robl said.
Almost always, drivers warned for DUI are glad not to have been arrested and comply with a police warning, he said.
Michael Armstrong can be reached at michael.armstrong@homernews.com.
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