Orange County and maybe Statewide DUI filings expected to jump

A $3.6 million federal grant aims to help California curb drunken driving.


Drunken driving cases in Orange County are expected to rise nearly 18 percent from 2005 as drivers ride a wave of candy-flavored martinis and fruity coolers.

Law enforcement officials say drinking has become more socially acceptable with sweet bar concoctions and fewer public awareness campaigns extolling the virtues of staying dry compared with the 1980s.

"People's drinking habits have seemed to go up more than it was 20 years ago," California Highway Patrol spokesman Tom Marshall said. "You see all these drinks nowadays, like flavored martinis. Drinking is more acceptable."

Federal officials are pumping $3.6 million into reducing drunken driving and deaths caused by inebriation. California prosecutors announced the grant Tuesday as part of a campaign coined "Make It Home for the Holidays."

The grant from the federal Office of Transportation Safety will be split among five regions in the state, according to the California District Attorneys Association. In each region, there will be a prosecutor focusing solely on training other prosecutors to handle DUI cases better, with the goal of reducing such cases.

"If I were an offender, this would send a message to me that the judicial system is taking the issue of drunk driving seriously," said Paula Birdsong, state spokesperson for Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

Prosecutors filed 14,530 drunken driving cases in 2005 in Orange County. That number is projected to increase to 17,122 this year.

Statewide, 77 percent of all DUI arrests lead to convictions. David LaBahn, the association's executive director, said the goal is to increase that rate.

CHP arrests have edged up a 0.5 percent from January to November 30, compared with the same time last year, Marshall said. In 2005, there were fewer deaths on highways statewide than the year before –1,025 compared with 1,147. Deaths for 2006 were not immediately available.

In Orange County, two court-related programs target DUI offenders. A popular program is DUI Court in Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach. Instead of going to jail, repeat offenders plead guilty, go to group therapy and have random drug testing.

LaBahn said Orange County is only one of two counties statewide to implement such a court. He said he hopes other state courts would start similar programs.

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