It's The Most Dangerous Time Of Year To Be On Road

TAMPA BAY, FL — The hours between 6 p.m. Dec 31 and 6 a.m. Jan. 1 are the most dangerous time of the year for drivers.

Compared to the average weekend night, the 12-hour window on New Year's Eve and Day has about 71 percent more crashes where alcohol or drugs are listed as a contributing factors, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

According to the Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, there were 5,125 alcohol- or drug-related crashes in Florida in 2017. Of those, 350 fatalities were fatalities.

It's a tragedy that's become all too common in Tampa Bay too many families will observe the holidays this year without their loved ones who were killed in fatal DUI crashes.

• A 35-year-old man was charged with DUI manslaughter following a crash on 54th Avenue Southin St. Petersburg Dec. 10 that killed a 71-year-old woman.
• Former Saint Leo University girls basketball player Lauren Lee Simone of Clearwater was killed in a DUI crash Dec. 12 in Pasco County in which a Zephyrhills man has been charged.
• A 50-year-old Tampa woman was charged with DUI manslaughter after getting into an accident on the Mango on-ramp to Interstate 4 Oct. 25 that killed her 10-month-old granddaughter who was riding on her lap.
• A 31-year-old Ruskin man was charged with DUI manslaughter Dec. 13 following a crash on Interstate 74 that took the life of a 57-year-old woman.
• A 44-year-old Riverview man turned himself into the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office Oct. 5 in connection with a fatal hit-and-run DUI accident that killed a bicyclist on Kings Avenue in Brandon Sept. 23.

FHP

Former Saint Leo University girls basketball player Lauren Lee Simone of Clearwater was killed in a DUI crash Dec. 12 in Pasco County.

The Tampa Bay area has the highest number of fatal DUI crashes in Florida, according to ValuePenguin.com.

1. In 2017, there were 515 deaths due to DUIs in Florida with Sarasota leading the list with 12.20 deaths per 100,000 residents.

“Sarasota is the most dangerous city in Florida for DUI deaths," said ValuePenguin.com. "It had 12.2 deaths per 100,000 residents per year over the last three years, making it nearly twice as deadly on a per-resident basis as the second most dangerous city, Lakeland. The danger of being killed in a DUI death has increased substantially in Sarasota—there were 73 percent more DUI deaths in the city when compared to the previous three-year period.”

2. Lakeland came in second with 6.50 DUI deaths per 100,000 residents.
“The death rate increased 171 percent between the three-year period ending in 2017 and the previous three-year period," said ValuePenguin.com.

3. Jacksonville was third with 5.60 DUI deaths per 100,000 residents.

4. St. Petersburg ranked fourth with 4.63 DUI deaths per 100,000 residents.

“St. Petersburg was 141 percent more dangerous than the average across the large Florida cities we surveyed," said ValuePenguin.com. "The number of people killed in DUI crashes has increased slightly. Between 2012 and 2014, the city had a death rate of 4.36.”

5. Pensacola reported 4.49 DUI deaths per 100,000 residents.

6. Orlando had 4.06 DUI deaths per 100,000 residents.

7. Tampa reported 3.77 DUI deaths per 100,000 residents.

“While Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area, it’s not the most dangerous for DUIs. Its DUI fatality rate of 3.77 put it at No. 7, three spots behind neighboring St. Petersburg," said the website. "It also had a moderate decrease in deaths over the course of our study. Between 2012 and 2014, there were 48 DUI deaths in Tampa; from 2015 and 2017, that number fell to 38."

Ranking in the top 10 for medium-sized Florida cities were Plant City (4), Temple Terrace (5) and Pinellas Park (8). And in the top 10 for small cities was Gulfport (5).

However, the news isn't all bad. According to the Tampa Alcohol Coalition, Tampa Bay is making headway in reducing drunk-driving crashes with the help of tougher enforcement measures, new statutes, sober rides programs and public service campaigns.

State Laws

According to the TAC, Florida is one of only two states that does not have a criminal law forbidding alcohol service and sales to a person who was obviously intoxicated.

The majority of U.S. states have long had Dram Shop statutes in place that hold an alcohol licensee liable for serving alcohol to minors and “visibly intoxicated” patrons.

But it wasn't until this year that the Florida Legislature adopted Statute 768.125, which makes a person who sells or furnishes alcoholic beverages to a person of lawful drinking age civilly liable for injury or damage caused by that person.

In fact, in 1980, Florida passed a "reverse Dram Shop statute" that restricted liability to two exceptions: when the alcoholic beverages were furnished to a minor or when furnished to a “habitual drunkard." This posed a conundrum for bartenders who were tasked with deciding who constituted a habitual drunkard.

The spring break capital of America has a reputation for leniency regarding drinking. In Florida, 18 year olds can patronize and work in bars. There are no restrictions on "drink specials" such as "Kill the Keg" and "Ladies Drink Free." Bars can offer drinking games such as "beer pong."

Mothers Against Drunk Driving is also lobbying the Florida Legislature to mandate that any driver convicted of a DUI be required to install an ignition interlock device (IID) on his or her vehicle for a certain period of time, as they work to earn their full driving privileges back.

A first-time DUI offender only has to install an ignition interlock device in a few situations, including:

• If a judge orders it
• If a child was in the vehicle
• If the blood alcohol content was .15 percent or above.

Currently, 30 states require ignition interlock devices for all DUI convictions, and MADD wants Florida to join their ranks. The IIDs act as a breathalyzer and require the driver to blow into a mouthpiece to start the car. MADD maintains that the locks have prevented more than two million drunk-driving attempts in the United States in the last 10 years, including 68,236 in Florida.

The state has also been criticized for its lax penalties, including fines of up to $1,000 and up to six months in jail for first-time offenders caught drinking and driving, unless the offense involves death, injury or property damage.

A DUI in Florida is defined as driving a vehicle with a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.08 percent or higher. And if you're under 21, a BAC over 0.02 percent qualifies for a DUI.

Safe Ride Programs

The TAC said safe ride programs are helping to keep socially responsible drinkers off the roads, and may be responsible for a decrease in drunk driving accidents in major metropolitan areas like Miami-Dade, which dropped 65 percent in 2017.

Additionally, Millennials in Florida, concerned about their environmental footprint, are driving less and using public transportation more.

There are several groups that offer safe rides to inebriated drivers including the Auto Club Group and Bud Light, which hosts the Tow to Go service to discourage an intoxicated driver from getting behind the wheel.

Other free safe transportation options are sponsored by Uber and Lyft.

The Tampa personal injury law firm Abrahamson & Uiterwyk announced that it will reimburse people for the cost of ordering a cab or ride-share on certain holidays in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Hernando, Citrus and Polk counties including New Year's Eve and Day. Click here for guidelines.

HARTline will offer rides on the TECO Line Streetcar in downtown Tampa for free on New Year's Eve from 7 p.m. to 1:30 a.m., during the annual Light Up Tampa event. The free In-Towner will also be operating throughout Downtown Tampa until 1 a.m.

Stepping Up Enforcement

To combat alcohol- and drug-impaired driving, the NHTSA gave more than $100,000 to states last December through the Governors Highway Safety Association to fund law enforcement training courses to recognize the tell-tale signs of drunk driving and ignition interlock devices.

Throughout the holiday, law enforcement has been conducting Wolf Pack operations over weekends, focusing on drunk drivers.

Last weekend, Pinellas County, the Florida Highway Patrol, Largo Police Department, Pinellas Park Police Department and the St. Petersburg Police Department were out in force on high-visibility roadways in Pinellas County searching for impaired drivers, speeders and aggressive drivers.

During that Wolf Pack, law enforcement made 25 DUI arrests.

The sheriff's office continue its efforts throughout the 2020 year, thanks to $140,000 in contracts from the Florida Department of Transportation for DUI and speed enforcement.

The contracts run through Sept. 30, 2020 and will be used for saturation patrols and quarterly multi-jurisdictional DUI Wolf Packs.

Public Service Campaigns

You may have seen the billboards around Tampa Bay.

The NHTSA is partnering with law enforcement this holiday season to spread the message with catchy: Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over and If You Feel Different, You Drive Different — Drive High Get a DUI. The campaign runs through Jan. 1 and aims to educate people about the dangers and consequences of driving drunk and high.

The TAC has launched its own public awareness campaign titled Don't be that DUI Guy- call a safe ride.