It just isn’t worth the risk

BY KEITH LIPPOLDT

klippoldt@gbtribune.com

December is the time of year when people are out and about celebrating Christmas and New Years Eve parties with family, friends or co-workers - sometimes attending more than one party per evening. 

What starts out as a dinner and a drink can quickly escalate to several drinks. And before you know it, it’s time to go home. Your next decision may be the most important decision you make in your lifetime – or someone else’s lifetime.

“Please don’t do it. It’s just a bad idea,” Great Bend Chief of Police Steve Haulmark said about driving impaired from alcohol or drugs. “I want everybody to have a good time, but I also want everybody to be safe. If you’re going to be out drinking, have a designated driver or make plans to have somebody get you home.”

It’s enough of a concern that Kansas Representative Tracey Mann and New Hampshire Representative Chris Pappas introduced a Resolution recognizing December as “National Impaired Driving Month.”

In a Dec. 13 news release from TNS, in May 2024, Reps. Mann and Pappas introduced the bipartisan End Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) Act of 2024, which “creates a national ignition interlock standard by encouraging states to adopt mandatory first-time offender ignition interlock laws, helping reduce recidivism and improve road safety by ensuring fewer drunk drivers are on the road.” Twenty-four states and D.C., including Kansas, already meet the standards outlined in this legislation.

According to insuranceopedia.com, statistics show that in the United States, someone is killed or injured by a drunk driver every 39 minutes, with a higher rate at night and during summer months. In 2021, 13,384 people were killed in drunk driving-related crashes, accounting for 31% of all traffic deaths in the U.S.

While exact Kansas-specific arrest numbers were not detailed in this most recent data, national trends show significant enforcement efforts, with over a million drivers arrested for impaired driving annually in the U.S. 

In Kansas, being caught driving impaired (DUI) carries significant legal, financial, and personal consequences. With over 400 total traffic fatalities annually since 2016, Kansas takes DUI offenses seriously, with penalties escalating for repeat offenses or aggravating circumstances. Beyond legal consequences, a DUI can affect many aspects of life, making it critical to avoid impaired driving. 

“Nobody thinks it’s going to happen to them, and when you drive drunk or impaired, you’re playing Russian Roulette with your own life and other people’s lives, too,” said Great Bend native and current Senior Assistant Public Defender for Sedgwick County Marty Keenan. “Nothing can ruin the holidays like a DUI.”

Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) is what determines a person’s level of intoxication, and it varies from person to person depending on body type and weight, as well as prior food and water intake. With the maximum legal BAC set at .08, by testing higher you are considered legally impaired. But, in reality, any amount of alcohol can severely impact a driver’s ability to safely operate a vehicle. 

Drunk and impaired driving has remained a serious issue for several decades. While the number of accidents may have decreased over the last 20 years, the severity of those accidents and the rate of fatalities has increased. Drunk driving accidents and injuries don’t just occur when individuals are more than the legal limit but when individuals have even a minimal level of BAC.

“What most people don’t know is if you get a DUI, you’re not only fighting the criminal case with Barton County or the City of Great Bend, but you’re also fighting with the driver’s license bureau because they punish you as well,” Keenan said. “If you flunk a breathalyzer test, not only does the city or county file a criminal case against you, but the driver’s license bureau will suspend your license automatically. It’s a double jeopardy.

“It can be worse. If you refuse to take the test, it’s a one-year suspension. So the worst thing you can do is not cooperate. People believe they are being smart by not doing the breath test but, if you don’t, it’s an automatic year suspension of your drivers license and it’s considered an admission of guilt on the DUI.”

Drug-related DUI arrests have been increasing but have not yet surpassed alcohol-related arrests in the United States. Drug-related cases, while rising, are harder to quantify and prosecute because there is no standardized “legal limit” for most drugs. Instead, these cases rely on behavioral evidence, field sobriety tests, and blood or urine analysis.

“The most common is alcohol but, obviously, we have other incidents where we suspect that there might be other things in place,” Chief Haulmark said. “The testing is a little bit different. That’s when we might bring out a Drug Recognition Expert (DRE).”

All of the officers on the GBPD have been trained in detection practices while at the Academy and that training is put to use daily while on patrol.

“They (officers) are being aware and watching for the indicators – people that are having a hard time maintaining their lane, having trouble maintaining the same speed or driving without their headlights,” he said. “There’s a bunch of indicators that, by themselves, might not mean anything. But if you start putting two or three of those together, that’s a pretty good clue.”

The penalties for any DUI are generally similar across the board. However, each situation can be different depending on factors like whether there was a collision involved where someone was injured or if someone refuses to take a field test.

For a first offense, a person convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol can face imprisonment and/or fines. Repeat offenders face stiffer penalties including, but not limited to, jail time, suspended drivers license, fines, Ignition Interlock Device (IID), and mandated treatment.

Other negative factors may include loss of employment, higher insurance premiums, possible loss of insurance coverage, attorney costs, court fees, installation of the IID in your vehicle, among others.

Keenan left his law career for four years and was a college professor in Nebraska.

“I told my students it was better to walk 10 miles than to get their first DUI,” he said. “And it’s better to walk 20 miles than to get your second DUI, and better to walk 100 miles than to get your third. Walking home is the safest thing to do, as long as you stay on the sidewalk. I’ve seen people pulled over a couple of miles from their home. They should have just left their car, gotten a ride or walked home. Nobody ever thinks it’s going to happen to them.”

For the fourth consecutive year, the GBPD will be offering rides home for drivers that are under the influence.

“We’re going to be doing our Police Taxi Cab on New Years Eve,” Haulmark said. “We know people are going to be out, and they might be enjoying adult beverages, having a good time, but we want them to get home safely.”