You just knew it was going to happen…
MADD Plans to Go on Patrol for DUIs
Volunteers will look for impaired drivers and notify authorities, not make stops.
Tampa, FL. Sept. 29 — Had a few drinks before getting behind the wheel? Think again. That harmless-looking minivan in the rearview mirror might be the neighbors on patrol.
That's how Mothers Against Drunk Driving pitched its latest plan to get impaired drivers off the roads.
Called the Traffic Observation Program, the pilot program is slated to begin in Hillsborough County and may become a statewide initiative, according to Don Murray, Florida's executive director for MADD. The plan: Recruit 20 volunteers armed with donated cell phones and send them out in the middle of the night to watch for telltale signs of drunk drivers.
MADD has worked closely with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, so Murray suggested to other MADD members that the pilot program begin here…
Volunteers will go out in teams. They will drive their own vehicles and take GPS equipment, so they'll be able to find their way through unfamiliar areas for two to four hours of searching, Murray said. They'll be told ahead of time of the sometimes-subtle clues for drunk drivers, such as driving under the speed limit or lingering too long at a green light, Murray said…
The program was Murray's idea, he said, inspired by worries of what potential budget cuts could do to law enforcement's DUI teams…
"Obviously anything that's going to get drunk drivers off the road, we're interested in," said Tampa police Cpl. Jared Douds. "That's certainly a positive for everybody."
So be careful you're not "driving under the speed limit or lingering too long at a green light", or that flashing red light in your rear-view mirror will be compliments of your local Madd Mother.
(Thanks to Jeanne M. Pruett, President of Responsibility in DUI Laws, Inc.)
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