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Zero tolerance: Drink and drive, go to jail

By CHUCK BALLARO - | Nov 25, 2020

AAA projected at least a 10% drop in travel for the Thanksgiving holiday — the largest one-year decrease since the Great Recession in 2008.

Travelers were expected to listen to officials who urged safety in light of the continuing pandemic, the motorclub’s annual numbers analysis states.

Local law enforcement added to the pre-holiday advisory, issuing a stay-safe warning of their own that carries on through this weekend: Don’t drink and drive.

And if you do, prepare to go to jail as there will be zero tolerance for impaired drivers.

If you plan to travel or visit relatives this holiday season, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office and Mothers Against Drunk Driving urge drivers to use caution and think before you drink.

The LCSO and MADD teamed up Tuesday morning at the LCSO community outreach center at the Bell Tower Shops in Fort Myers for the “Tie One On For Safety” press conference, which served to launch the annual awareness campaign to ensure that Southwest Florida’s streets are safe and free from impaired drivers through the holidays.

Law enforcement, EMS personnel and even a victim spoke live and via Zoom to talk about the consequences of driving drunk, alternatives to driving drunk and the experiences they have had dealing with drunken drivers.

“In a perfect world, we wouldn’t have to have this press conference. This is a cause that everybody can do something about by making good, healthy decisions, said Trish Routte, manager of Florida Crime Stoppers. “If you’re going out and having a good time, hesitate and think before you have that first drink.”

Sheriff Carmine Marceno said first responders throughout Southwest Florida work as partners to make sure the roads are safe and warned that they will be out in full force this holiday season.

“There are choices, decisions and consequences, and the consequences can be fatal, so we ask the public to help us. Make certain you’re not going to get behind the wheel and drink and drive,” Marceno said. “There are so many options where you don’t have to drink and drive. There will be zero tolerance, if you drink and drive, we will take you off the streets and you will end up in jail.”

Options include having a designated driver, ordering a ride from Lyft or Uber, staying put and simply not drinking or drinking “mocktails,” drinks without alcohol, which were also demonstrated at the press conference.

Those who spoke included Col. Jim Bloom of the Collier County Sheriff’s Office, Greg Bueno with the Florida Highway Patrol, Lori Burke, executive director of MADD in Southwest Florida, and others.

Burke said everyone wants to be with their families and celebrate and, from Thanksgiving to the New Year, there seems to be the largest amount of impaired driving.

And with COVID-19 and the pandemic, the problem with drunk driving has only gotten worse.

“Nobody goes out intending to hurt themselves or someone else or drive impaired. All that judgement goes out the window once you have that first drink,” Burke said. “Mocktails are just as effective as having an alcoholic drink.

“Drug and alcohol use have gone up since COVID, and that’s with drivers. It’s been a very stressful year on so many levels and people do these things during the day and then they drive,” Burke said.