... drunken driving through 911

AWARENESS:
Dan Towery, president of the West Central Indiana chapter of MADD, speaks during a press conference at City Hall.

By Erin Smith, Journal and Courier

It's OK to call 911 to report a possible drunken driver.

In fact, police across the state and government agencies are encouraging it.

On Friday, the Indiana Department of Transportation and the Governor's Council on Impaired and Dangerous Driving unveiled a new roadside sign that is being installed in over 500 locations along major roads around the state.

The simple blue sign states: "Report Impaired Drivers. Dial 911."

"When we first put the 911 system in Tippecanoe County, the question was, 'Can you call 911 to report drunk drivers?' " said Tippecanoe County Sheriff William 'Smokey' Anderson. "Around here, we've done that."

County dispatcher Scott Yahr said there are, on average, five calls a day reporting possible drunken drivers during his shift from 3 to 11 p.m.

Dan Towery, president of MADD West Central Indiana chapter, said he conducted an unscientific, informal survey of 10 people, asking them if they would call 911 to report a possible impaired driver. Five out of 10 said yes, Towery said. The other five said, "I'm not sure."

"Is it appropriate? Is it a real emergency?" Towery asked.

Towery and his wife, Margie, founded the area chapter of MADD in 2000 -- about one year after their daughter, Sarah, and her boyfriend, Earl E.
"Chip" Smith II, were killed by a drunken driver.

Since then, Towery has participated in the organization by attending state meetings and becoming a victim advocate.

Jerry McCory, executive director of the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute, asked the same question of Indiana State Police Superintendent Melvin Carraway when he presented the highway sign program to Carraway.

"His first response was, 'This is a great idea,' " McCory said.

In a recent report, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recorded a decline in the number of alcohol-related fatalities for Indiana between 1998 and 2002, ranking the Hoosier state second in the nation behind Iowa, McCory said.

Indiana had a fatality rate of 0.59 deaths per 100 million miles traveled in 1998. That number fell to 0.37 deaths per 100 million miles in 2002 -- a decline of more than 37 percent.

"We are convinced these signs around Indiana will save lives," said McCory, adding that the signs are funded through federal grants.

Elmo Gonzalez, the Crawfordsville district director for the Indiana Department of Transportation, said the highway signs will also be available for cities.

"INDOT's number one goal is to improve the safety of the roadways," Gonzalez said. "We'll put up as many as requested.

"This is a small step we hope will produce big results. Without a doubt, significant efforts have been made to reduce the number of impaired drivers.
We are on the right track, especially with this campaign."

"We want people to know that calling 911 is a viable solution to getting drunken drivers off the road," said 1st Sgt. Brent Bible, from Lafayette's State Police post.

Bible, who also is a co-chair to the Coalition for a Safe and Drug-free Tippecanoe County, said calling 911 to report a drunken driver will help police officers do their jobs.

There may be only three or four patrols in an area, but there are hundreds of other people in that same area, he said.

"This is putting thousands of more eyes out there for the police," Towery said.

ISP dispatcher Donnie Miller, who works the midnight shift, said he typically gets four or five calls during his eight-hour day.

"We get calls all the time," he said. "For the most part, most are not OWIs.
Probably 75 percent are just tired drivers or because it's windy."

Towery said he would use his own judgment before calling the police.

"Just because somebody drove off the road once, I wouldn't call," he said.
"They could have been reaching down to change a CD or something. But if it happened twice, I would definitely call."

Bible said the decision to call 911 is up to the individual.

"Generally speaking, a person's own judgment is very good," he said.
"Sometimes people are going to make mistakes. Most of the time, it won't result in an arrest. But even if it's one out of every 10 calls, it's better."