Drunk Driving

Better think Twice

One of the most important functions of the Oxford Miss. Police Department is handling drunk drivers.  This is perhaps the most common danger the Department is trying to protect us from. 

“It has a damaging affect on all of us, not just us in law enforcement, but the families of the victims and the families of the DUI officers as well,” Captain Libby Lytle of the OPD stated.

The Mothers Against Drunk Driving website cites statistics indicating that every ninety seconds someone is injured in a drunk driving accident.  MADD.org also indicates that instances of drunk driving are the highest among 21 to 25 year olds, averaging 23.4 percent of all such instances.  These statistics are particularly relevant for a college town such as Oxford.

  

Megan Prescott, Executive Assistant to Chief of Police, said “even if you get home and nothing happens, I think it’s harmful because mentally you think you are invincible and nothing is going to happen to you.”

This year in Oxford, 27 DUI arrests have occurred from this September to November, which is a decrease from the previous year according to the student newspaper, the Daily Mississippian. Collegesafe.com has deemed the University of Mississippi “the safest school in the SEC” in 2012 and the Oxford Police Department is doing whatever they can to keep that title this year.

“We have extra foot patrol on the square around bar hours from 10pm to bar closing,” said Captain Lytle.

Not only is drunk driving dangerous and illegal, it is also extremely expensive.  Drunk driving costs the United States around $132 billion a year, meaning the cost for each person is around $500 every year according to MADD statistics.

When asked about the cost of defending a DUI, patrolman Kevin Parker replied, “It’s unbelievably expensive, even if you get acquitted of it, and you're found not guilty that still is a lot of money out of your pocket.”

The Oxford Police Department has a strong and cordial relationship with the University Police Department and they work together to help each other. Click  to hear what patrolman Parker has to say about the relationship.

Though drunk driving statistics can be disturbing, we all should be aware of drunk drivers and the dangers that come with driving in the streets of Oxford. When asking Ms. Prescott and patrolman Parker to give advice on drunk driving, they replied:

"I don't think it is worth it, people don't think about the long term impacts. I encourage students to walk or take a taxi,” said Prescott.

“The damage is losing your loved ones, or losing people that aren’t meant to go, and its all because someone made a selfish decision thinking they couldn’t hurt anyone else just trying to have a good time,” said Parker.

So please don’t drink and drive; and think twice before making a decision that is selfish and can be very costly in more ways than one.