FHP to Target Drunk Drivers for Holiday Season

Gov. Rick Scott joined law enforcement for the annual reminder that troopers will be out in force searching for drunk and impaired drivers through winter holiday season.

Scott, during an announcement in the Capitol rotunda of this years enforcement effort, said drunk driving arrests and crashes have decreased the past four years, but more needs to be done.

The message appears to be reaching everyone, Scott said.

But we need to build on these numbers; the bottom line is that alcohol and drugs still factored into more than 18,000 crashes last year.

During the 2010 holiday season, of the 32 deaths on Florida roads, 12 were alcohol-related, according to the FHP.

Florida Highway Patrol Director Col. David Brierton said every trooper will have to work at least one DUI shift between Dec. 17 and Jan. 2, which includes checkpoints and wolfpack patrols.