Panel addresses dangers of drunk driving

DANGEROUS DRIVING— Oxnard Police Chief John Crombach, a Camarillo resident, was one of many law enforcement officials from around the county to speak in Ventura at “Unacceptable Losses,” the first DUI prevention summit in Ventura County. With the holidays approaching, law enforcement officials and sobriety advocates drove home the message last week that no amount of alcohol is safe before driving.

At a summit on Nov. 5, “Unacceptable Losses,” organized by Ventura County Behavioral Health at the Ventura Beach Marriott, various agencies came together to publicize the farreaching emotional, physical and financial consequences of drunk driving.

Nationally, 22,000 Americans died from alcohol-induced causes in 2006, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. The figure does not include unintentional injuries, homicides, deaths due to fetal-alcohol syndrome or other indirect results of alcohol use.

Physicians Javier Romero and Brian Kimbrell told the audience of 200 or so that local statistics show that drunk driving is a problem.

Romero, trauma director at the Ventura County Medical Center, said one-fourth of their trauma patients who die have alcohol in their system.

Kimbrell, trauma director at St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard, said one-third of the hospital’s trauma patients have a blood alcohol level of 0.08 percent or greater, rendering them legally unfit to drive.

But statistics don’t tell the human suffering behind the numbers. Romero recalled a 24-year-old woman with a blood alcohol level 2½ times the legal limit who suffered severe injuries after crashing her vehicle into a pole. Although she survived, her 2-year-old child did not, and the woman is now serving prison time for the death of her child, he said.

Intoxicated drivers account for four times more victims than do guns and knives, said Tina Pasco of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

“There is no safe amount of alcohol,” Pasco said.

Dep. District Attorney Cynthia Nguyen said her office is tough on drunk and impaired drivers, filing charges on almost all the 5,600 DUI cases submitted in 2008. Prosecutors try to get stiffer sentences for the accused than the state minimum, she said.

A person in Ventura County doesn’t have to have a blood alcohol level of 0.08 percent to be arrested. A driver showing impairment who has been drinking alcohol, taking prescription or illegal drugs and who has a blood alcohol level lower than 0.08 percent will likely be prosecuted for impaired driving, Nguyen said.

Being charged with a DUI takes a financial toll. Kathy Mulford, administrator of the county’s Alcohol and Drug Programs, said with fines, a sobriety program and higher insurance rates, a DUI can cost $13,000.

Mulford said there are some 2,200 clients, ranging in age from 18 to 84, in county-run sobriety programs at any given time. Most are everyday people ordered by the court into programs that can cost $900 to $2,500. Many have lost their jobs. All have lost driving privileges because the Department of Motor Vehicles suspends a driver’s license when a person is convicted of a DUI.

Mulford said the sobriety programs have seen a 10 percent enrollment increase since May.

“Every DUI is avoidable, which makes the losses . . . unacceptable,” Mulford said

Nightclub owner Greg Hanour said the state Department of Alcohol Beverage Control must shoulder part of the blame for drunk drivers because it does not require those who run bars or other drinking establishments to train their wait staffs to serve alcoholic beverages responsibly.

Hanour called on law enforcement, the district attorney’s office and other affected parties to band together to create a course to educate club and restaurant staff on how to handle a heavy drinker. Hanour said curtailing inebriated customers is in a club owner’s best interests, because such persons often exhibit behaviors such as leaving without paying their tab, assaulting servers and provoking fights.

“There’s no upside to getting someone drunk,” he said. “Literally, you can lose your business.”

California Highway Patrol Capt. Cliff Williams said the department was devastated in December 2007 when one of its own, officer Tony Pedeferri, was struck and paralyzed by an impaired driver.

Williams said the public can help get impaired drivers off the road by calling 911. It’s not against the law to use a cellphone without a hands-free device to call 911 while driving.

Drinking establishments can help by ensuring bartenders use precise measures and not “free pour” when preparing drinks, he said.

Oxnard Police Cmdr. Martin Meyer said a tool Ventura County law enforcement uses to clamp down on DUI incidents, Avoid the 14, is having good results.

Public awareness through the campaign has contributed to a 9 percent reduction in DUI-related injuries and deaths from 2007 to 2008, said Meyer, campaign coordinator.

Avoid the 14 unites 14 law enforcement agencies in Ventura County to increase public awareness and step up DUI enforcement.

After the meeting, Sierra Taylor, a 27-year-old college student, said she found the information helpful in understanding the national and local scope of the problem.

Taylor, who’s studying to become a drug and alcohol counselor, said she was concerned that no one spoke about the carefree attitude fans exhibit toward alcohol at sporting events or the societal views about women and alcohol.

Taylor said the panelists failed to note how society esteems women who can out-drink a man. Panelists also didn’t talk about the risks faced by women who consume too much alcohol, she said. Intoxicated women can become victims of rape or engage in consensual sex they may regret later.