KING COUNTY, WASHINGTON - Most of the law enforcement agencies in King County will continue staffing extra police patrols to find and remove intoxicated drivers on New Year’s Eve and through the holiday weekend. These overtime patrols are part of the statewide “Drive Hammered - Get Nailed” Holiday Campaign, funded by the Washington Traffic Safety Commission.
“It is so simple to prevent deaths from impaired driving,” said King County Executive Ron Sims. “End this terrible waste of life by acting responsibly. Plan for a safe ride home before you go out to celebrate the New Year.”
Nationwide someone dies every half hour from an alcohol-related crash. In King County, from 1993 to 2002, 1,405 people died in traffic crashes. About 40% died in alcohol-related crashes. Statewide, alcohol-related motor vehicle collisions claim an average of 282 lives each year.
“Many people still do not understand that drinking, taking some types of prescription medicines or other drugs, and then driving imperils thems and others,” said Dr. Alonzo Plough, Director and Health Officer for Public Health - Seattle & King County. “If you drink or use other drugs avoid driving. Designate a sober driver before you go out, use public transportation, or take a taxi.”
In Washington State, a DUI arrest may result in jail time, thousands of dollars in court costs, attorney fees, insurance payments, ticket fees, mandatory addiction treatment, an ignition interlock, and lost time from work. You could also lose your license, car or job if arrested for impaired driving.
“Are you willing to gamble your freedom, your driver’s license, and your future income on the chance I will not catch you driving drunk or drugged? That is a losing bet,” said Chief Bryan Howard of the Muckleshoot Police.
This New Year Eve’s patrol is dedicated to Heath Parker, a twenty-year old Marine from Morton, Washington, who died December 24, 1995 in an alcohol-related crash. Heath was home on military leave visiting his family for the first time in over a year, when a truck driven by his brother-in-law, Mike McCoy, went into a lake. Heath survived the crash and made it to shore. However, he went back into the lake to rescue Mike and drowned.
Heath’s sister, Tricia McCoy, a King County resident, said, “People say that time makes the pain better; but it does not. It was nine years this Christmas Eve, and it is not any easier than the first one. The pain does not go away. Your life never goes back to normal. It just becomes different. Not a day goes by that a tear is not shed for Heath.”
This holiday season, the King County Traffic Safety Coalition urges everyone to:
