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Survey
of local residents
Support
high for toughening DUI standard
June
7, 2003
By BRYNN
WHITE
Index-Journal
staff intern
A
majority of area residents surveyed Friday said they favor the
move by state lawmakers to toughen driving under the influence
restrictions.
The Senate voted late Thursday to lower the
alcohol tolerance level from .10 to .08 percent alcohol
content.
By approving the measure, the state will gain
access to $66 million in federal highway funds.
Gov. Mark
Sanford stood by the legislature in its decision to toughen
the DUI rules.
“I agree with it,” said Andy Morrow, 42, of
Greenwood. “I think it ought to be .08 — maybe a little lower
— just to get people who are under the influence of alcohol
off the roads.”
“I feel like it’s a set-up. That’s like
saying if you just take a taste of alcohol, you’re
automatically violating it. Instead of it being .10, they
should have made it a .12,” said Marthella Sadler, 40, of
Greenwood.
Shag Backus, 54, of Greenwood, recalled an
incident that affected his life.
“I had a friend of mine,
many years ago, who was killed in Columbia by a drunk driver.
She was a young lady who had just entered nursing school,” he
said. “It should stay the same or maybe they (lawmakers)
should get a little tougher on it. They should go back and
lower it again every two or three years to bring it to
everyone’s attention.”
“If they’re (lawmakers) not going to
enforce the current one, there is no reason to be lowering
it,” said Pat Lark, 56, of Ninety Six.
“I don’t drink, but
I think it will help people realize that you can’t drink and
drive, even though you think you’re OK,” said Brenda
Clinkscales, 29, of Greenwood.
Cory Lark, 21, of Ninety
Six, said, “It doesn’t matter because they’ve (highway patrol)
already got it in their minds who they’re going to stop and
who they’re going to test. It doesn’t matter if they lower it
or not.”
Rachel Crump,18, of Greenwood, said, “I think
it’s probably better that way. They should lower it more than
that.”
Christina Seabolt, 21, of Greenwood, expressed her
convictions.
“I don’t think there should be any alcohol
level. If you drink one drop of it, you shouldn’t be out on
the road,” she said. “You should have more respect for
yourself and other drivers. A friend of mine killed a couple
because he was drinking and driving.”
While some
convictions are related to past tragic events, the feelings
toward the new law are unanimous.
“I’m certainly all for
this. I raised five daughters and a son, and I’ve always told
them that when they get old enough and want to have a mixed
drink, don’t ever drive,” said Betty Morrow, 57, of Hodges.
“If you don’t kill yourself, you could kill someone else, and
it could be a mother and a child. It’s not worth it.”
Local
law enforcement officials say they are in support of the
lowered blood alcohol count.
“Any lowering of the DUI
level will help to detect, apprehend and keep those drivers
off the road. It will help lower the number of people killed
on our highways by drunk drivers. And it’s sending a message
to those foolish enough to drink and drive,” interim Saluda
Police Chief Israel Brooks said.
“We are in support of
lowering the DUI limit and anything that we know will save
lives and take drunk drivers off the road,” state Department
of Public Safety spokesman Sid Gaulden said. “Now that the
limit is 0.08 percent it should keep some of those people who
habitually drink and drive off the road.”
Ninety Six
Police Chief Stephen Dixon said that department will not make
any changes to protocol because of the new law.
“I think
it’s better that they’ve lowered it. We will get more people
off the roads and that will cut down on traffic fatalities,”
he said.
Greenwood Police Chief Gerald Brooks said nothing
will change as far as enforcement of stopping drivers who are
under the influence.
He said the police department is
always vigilant in its effort to check impaired drivers.
Officers have to make the determination whether that
person is intoxicated, transport them to the station and check
their blood alcohol level using a machine called the Data
Master.
“Under current legislation the Data Master checks
the legal limit as 0.10 and when that law is passed it will be
0.08,” Brooks said.
Shavonne Potts contributed to
this story.
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