Reporting Drunks Gets Easier

By Leslie Linthicum
Journal Staff Writer

You're doing 70 on the interstate, you spot a driver you suspect is drunk and you're supposed to get to your cell phone and dial 1-877-DWI-HALT?
It's not a number that's easy to remember or quick to dial, so the state announced Thursday that it has started a new, streamlined way to snitch on suspected drunken drivers from most cell phones: Dial #DWI.
"This is a quicker, easier way to call this potentially life-saving hot line," Gov. Bill Richardson told a news conference in Albuquerque.
Richardson and state DWI czar Rachel O'Connor said the state is also putting up large green signs that advertise the number about every 15 miles along Interstates 25, 40 and 10 in New Mexico.
Richardson also announced a $200,000 contract that will pay for Albuquerque Police Department overtime so two to three APD officers can be available every day to respond to hot-line tips in Albuquerque. About 60 percent of DWI hot-line tips concern drivers in the Albuquerque area.
The state reached an agreement with Alltel, Cingular, Cricket, Plateau, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless to engineer their networks to allow the calls. Sprint opted not to participate, O'Connor said. Qwest Wireless uses the Sprint network.
The longer number, 1-877-DWI-HALT, is still be operational for Sprint customers or anyone who has it programmed into a cell phone and wants to continue using it.
Citizens shouldn't hesitate to call the number, O'Connor said.
"We're trying to encourage citizens to become more involved in addressing DWI issues," she said. "And part of the responsibility that comes along with that is, if you see a drunk driver on the road, please report it to the police."
The hot line is part of the state's DrunkBusters program, which also includes saturation patrols and checkpoints to combat New Mexico's severe DWI problem.
"We've thrown the kitchen sink at drunk driving," Richardson said. "We've had some successes, but we've still got a long way to go."
Despite successes— fewer fatalities in alcohol-related crashes and more DWI arrests— New Mexico has had a string of crashes involving wrong-way drivers lately. Many have been driving at high speeds, and most have been drunk. One of the recent cases was a collision on I-25 near Santa Fe that killed five members of a Las Vegas, N.M., family.
Asked about the problem Thursday, Richardson said that he doesn't know the solution but that his administration needs to find one.
"We need to take some kind of action, stronger law enforcement or some kind of technology," he said.
O'Connor said that stopping drivers from entering interstates on exit ramps is one goal, and that the state has a pilot project in Santa Fe that places solar-powered reflective arrows on the ramps. But most wrong-way drivers have made U-turns, she said, and that is more difficult to address with technology.
Terry Huertaz, executive director of MADD in New Mexico, said everyone needs to tackle the problem and be part of the solution.
"I hope that people will memorize this number, program it into their phones, and most of all use this number," she said.
"The public absolutely has a role. This problem doesn't belong to the governor, it doesn't (belong) to MADD. It belongs to our state, and we all have a responsibility to be involved."
The DWI-HALT hot line went online in December 2005 and has fielded about 3,200 calls since then, with State Police, sheriff's deputies and local police dispatched all over the state to track down suspected drunken drivers.
Calls led to 64 traffic stops and resulted in 36 DWI arrests last year, according to the Department of Public Safety. This year, DrunkBuster-dispatched calls have led to 21 stops and 13 DWI arrests.
The number has been instrumental in recent months in helping police stop wrong-way drivers on Interstate 25. In November, a call to the hot line helped police stop and arrest a driver who was going south in the northbound lanes near Los Lunas. Last week, a motorist called the hot line to report a wrong-way driver on I-25 near Pecos. That call, too, resulted in a DWI arrest.
The DrunkBusters initiatives also were credited with helping to reduce alcohol-related traffic fatalities in New Mexico in 2005— a drop from 219 in 2004 to 193 in 2005. O'Connor said preliminary data show another slight drop— to 191 fatalities in 2006.