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New years drinking and driving
Posted: 12.28.2010 at 11:10 PM
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Drink, Drive, go to Jail, while the message may be clear it may not be getting through to some.
A AAA foundation study found one in ten drivers reported driving even though they thought their alcohol level might have been close to or possibly over the legal limit.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a study from 2000 to 2009 found that an average of 80 people a year are killed in alcohol related crashes on New Year's day.
This New Year's is a little different than years past, since the holiday falls on a Saturday.
The last time New year's day fell on a Saturday, 98 people died in alcohol related crashes.
Police officers will be out in full force, and some states will have sobriety checks.
However Texas is one of 12 states that does not allow for sobriety checkpoints.
State Representative Todd Smith from Euless is hoping to change that.
Smith recently filed House Bill 439.
The bill would allow law enforcement in Texas to set up checkpoints in counties with populations greater than 250,000.
Representative Smith says, "These things work by preventing drunk drivers from getting behind the wheel in the first place."
This is the 5th time representative smith has introduced such a bill.
He believes his best chance to pass it will come this January when lawmakers head back to the state capitol.