Font Resize
LAS CRUCES -- Drunken driving arrests in Las Cruces went down 12 percent from 2009 to 2010, with the total number of arrests -- 476 -- even lower than 2006 levels. With 6,411 arrests in 2010, drunken driving accounts for almost 13.5 percent of all persons taken into custody.
But that's still hundreds of people too many carelessly risking their own lives -- and the lives of everyone around them.
University Hills Elementary School Principal Judy Foster and her husband George Foster, the principal of Desert Pride Academy in Anthony, N.M., for instance, can no longer enjoy hiking or golf after a head-on collision with an alleged drunken driver Dec. 4, 2010. George Foster had to wheel his daughter down the aisle at her wedding in his wheelchair, and dance with her from a seated position. The abrupt interruption has transformed their daily schedules to work, physical therapy, and often exhaustion. But the crash has rippled beyond them, Judy Foster said Thursday.
"Our granddaughter, 9 years old, frequently has nightmares about either us having another accident or her parents having another accident or her, herself, being in an accident," she said. "That's been kind of a regular thing my daughter is dealing with. A 9-year-old should not be having that on her plate."
And not a day goes by that a member of the community doesn't share with her their support and makes a chilling point -- "It could happen to any one of us."
Alcohol-related fatalities, crashes and arrests
Daines realized then that the person at the wheel wasn't thinking about that -- but thinks that could change.
"It's a range of things that all seem to work together," Daines said. "Obviously, we have media, that helps us; you've seen the commercials where the guy is pouring out of the vehicle, and the billboards -- 'You drink, you drive, you lose,' and 'Would you rather choose this vehicle (a taxi) or this vehicle (a police car).'"
There are other consequences that appear to be deterring drunken driving in Las Cruces. In 2006, police seized 325 vehicles after drunken driving arrests. After a spike in 2008, those numbers have gone down. In 2010, 234 vehicles were seized.
Impressing upon people that it's not a victimless crime -- "you've got a 2,000-pound weapon at your disposal any time you're operating it," Daines notes -- also helps drive the point home, she said. Still, it takes time for people to automatically call #DWI when they see a drunk driver, or get used to establishing a designated driver who won't drink on a night out. Daines compares it to the process of educating people about seat belt laws or domestic violence, which used to be much more acceptable before laws, penalties and social stigma were strengthened.
Foster believes people aren't being kept in jail long enough or prevented from returning to the road -- something borne out by her experience witnessing a bail reduction hearing for defendant Nancy Corina Moreno, 30, who awaits trial on the charges stemming from the crash with the Fosters.
"When I was in court for her hearing, there was one after another after another (defendant charged with drunken driving) where their bonds were dramatically reduced, to almost nothing -- second, third, fourth, fifth offenses," she marveled. "I'm sitting there thinking, 'Why in the world?' And I asked why, and they said there's not enough jail space to keep them in. I said, 'There's not enough road space for them to be on the road.' As citizens, what we need to do is be more cognitive of what judges are making those decisions."
She added, "There's a problem in the system."
While legislators might need to be convinced to take a "harder line" on drunken driving and laws regarding the marketing of fun, cutesy, colorful beverages might need to be toughened, ultimately, people need to take responsibility for their own actions before the crime is committed, she said.
Daines thinks they are being smarter, little by little, and realizing that drunken driving is 100 percent preventable.
"I'm coming across a lot of designated drivers," she said. "There's a car full of drunk people, but a designated driver (at the wheel), which is a really good thing. It helps, too, that people are dialing #DWI. People are just getting a handle on it."
Daines still works special anti-DWI assignments several times a month.
"I've had people thank me for arresting them and say, 'I don't want this to happen to me again,'" she said. "Going to jail is never a fun experience. You obtain an attorney, go to court -- it's quite embarrassing. Hopefully I was able to arrest somebody once and they never did that again."
Judy Foster hopes one day to be able to advise Moreno, face to face, to take responsibility for her actions and get help, not only for herself but for her children. But her family's involvement in the world of drunken driving hasn't ended there.
Since returning to work three weeks ago, George Foster has shared his experience with his students -- who helped collect 64 pints of blood in a drive while he was still in the hospital.
"Several of his kids have talked about how they hope that they are never the cause of something like that," Judy Foster said. One of their daughters spoke to about 65 O-ate High School students recently during a driver's ed class, helping to put a face on the problem. There are plans to speak to church youth groups. "That's the good out of it ... To use our experience, if we can impact even one person to prevent this from happening to one other family, then that would certainly be a goal."
She adds: "More than one would be great."
Ashley Meeks can be reached at (575) 541-5462
By the numbers
Drunken driving arrests in Las Cruces
2006: 483
2007: 492
2008: 621
2009: 542
2010: 476
Drunken driving vehicle seizures in Las Cruces
2006: 325
2007: 294
2008: 399
2009: 321
2010: 234
Source: Las Cruces Police Department
Drunken driving conviction penalties
• First offense (misdemeanor): Six months to one year license revocation (one year if younger than 21), up to 90 days in jail, mandatory DWI School, alcohol evaluation, community service and one year ignition interlock. If DWI is aggravated (.16 BAC or above, refusal to take breathalyzer or causing injury) additional two days in jail mandatory.
• Second offense: Same as first offense, but with a maximum two-year license revocation, up to 364 days in jail (four days mandatory), up to $1,000 fine ($500 mandatory), up to five years probation and mandatory two years ignition interlock. If aggravated, additional four days in jail mandatory.
• Third offense: Same as second offense, but with up to three-year license revocation, up to 364 days in jail (30 days mandatory), up to $1,000 fine ($750 mandatory) and three years ignition interlock. If aggravated, additional 60 days in jail mandatory.
• Fourth offense (fourth-degree felony): Lifetime license revocation (reviewed every five years), up to 18 months prison (6 months mandatory), up to $5,000 fine, mandatory alcohol evaluation, treatment and lifetime ignition interlock (reviewed every five years).
• Fifth offense ( fourth-degree felony): Same as fourth offense, but with a maximum two-year prison sentence, one year mandatory.
• Sixth offense (third-degree felony): Same as fifth offense, but with a maximum 30-month prison sentence (18 months mandatory).
• Seventh or subsequent offense (third-degree felony): Same as sixth offense, but with a maximum three-year prison sentence, (two years mandatory).
Source: NMDOT
