‘Summer of shame’ for DUI fatal crashes
Authorities said drunken drivers killed 11 people in county since May
Alarm that a large number of people were killed by drunken drivers on San Diego County roadways this summer brought prosecutors and law enforcement officials together Tuesday with a plea to motorists: “Don’t do it.”
“If you choose to have a drink, have a plan — have a designated driver or use an alternative transportation system,” said San Diego Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman.
“We don’t understand why people make a conscious decision to get behind the wheel drunk, and drive,” said Jim Abele, chief of the California Highway Patrol’s Border Division. “I will beg drivers — don’t do it.”
“Be a person who cares about the welfare of others,” added Steve Lykins, executive director of the San Diego chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Drivers.
At a downtown San Diego news conference, District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis noted the deaths of two medical students whose car was hit by a wrong-way suspected drunken driver in May, two passengers trapped in a burning car when their driver crashed in August, and numerous other cases.
“The list is way too long,” Dumanis said. “It’s a summer of shame when it comes to DUIs.”
Eleven people have died in suspected DUI crashes around the county since May, with six in August alone. By comparison, there were 16 fatal DUI accidents in all of 2014, prosecutors said.
Last year the District Attorney’s Office created a DUI homicide unit with two prosecutors and two investigators.
“Unfortunately,” Dumanis said, “the unit is so busy they’ve had to enlist additional prosecutors to assist in prosecuting their cases.”
The District Attorney’s Office and San Diego City Attorney’s Office combined filed 12,300 misdemeanor and felony DUI cases last year and found that 46 percent of the drivers had blood-alcohol levels of nearly twice the legal limit of 0.08 percent.
Dumanis said there was some positive news, too: The number of people prosecuted for DUI causing a death dropped from 19 in 2010 to 16 in 2014. Similarly, the number of people charged with DUI causing an injury dropped from 356 in 2010 to 246 in 2014.
The reason for those lower numbers isn’t clear, but could indicate more people using ride services like Uber and Lyft, Dumanis said.
Abele said the CHP has noticed what could be an upward trend this year in drunken driving crashes within its jurisdiction of freeways and roads in unincorporated areas of the county. Last year the CHP investigated 1,121 DUI accidents, compared to 686 so far this year. Abele noted that much of the drunken driving typically comes over holidays, including Labor Day, Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve.
The CHP, San Diego police and most police agencies in the county plan extra DUI enforcement over the holidays.
“We’re all frustrated by the rise in DUIs (this summer),” said Escondido Police Chief Craig Carter, who also is president of the San Diego County Police Chiefs’ and Sheriff’s Association.
He advised members of the public to take an active role in preventing drunken driving by taking away car keys or calling a taxi for anyone who has no sober designated driver.
“We can’t be everywhere,” Carter said. “We need the public to step up.”
