Hawaii's Big Island is taking major leaps to decrease drunk driving on the roads this holiday season, and the city of Los Angeles should be looking to Hawaii as an example.
In order to make the Hawaiian roads safer, the island is bringing back its Holiday Shared Ride Taxi program from now until January 1, 2010. Through this program, selected bars in East and West Hawaii will be offering drunk patrons free taxi coupons as an alternative to driving away from establishments under the influence.
The Hawaii County Police Department has a federal DUI grant of $93,340 for this program. In addition to free taxies, police are setting up more DUI enforcement roadblocks and will be highly alert for motorists under the influence. The police say that 63 percent of the Big Island's traffic deaths involve alcohol.
If the Big Island of Hawaii can put together a program to get drunk drivers off the road, then why can't some of the most populated cities in the United States take take the same measures? According to a Los Angeles drunk driving lawyer, there were 31,099 drinking-related injuries in California in 2006. That same year, California law enforcement officials made 197,248 DUI arrests.
Many L.A residents see the elimination of drunk drivers
as a necessity to having safe roads in Los Angeles. Hawaii's free taxi
program may cost police more money, but it also has the potential to save lives and create a safer
environment.
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Free Ride Coupons For Holidays (Big Island Video News)
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California DUI Law (FindLaw)
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