One anonymous North Carolina college student selflessly volunteered to help the Governor’s Task Force on Driving While Intoxicated Thursday. Starting at 8:30 a.m. and drinking for a solid hour and a half, she demonstrated to the 35-member group of law enforcement personnel, prosecutors and alcohol prevention officials just exactly what it looks like to fail a field sobriety test.
The task force put her through the classic battery of field tests, including walking in a straight line and reciting the alphabet backwards. She systematically failed all of them.
“She knew she wouldn’t be comfortable operating a motor vehicle,” said Jill Warren Lucas, the public information officer for the task force. The volunteer’s blood alcohol level of .1 percent exceeded North Carolina’s .08 percent legal limit after she drank five beers, Lucas added.
The task force met in Raleigh for a marathon seven-hour meeting to discuss a broad range of issues related to DWI, which included defining goals to prevent drunk driving, underage drinking and strengthening impaired driving laws. Sen. Tony Rand, D-Dist. 19, Rep. Joe Hackney, D-Dist. 54, and Durham District Attorney Jim Hardin co-chair the group.
The group reviewed its interim report for Gov. Mike Easley and defined its goals for upcoming meetings, during which they will work on proposed revisions to the laws. In January, they will present their recommended changes to DWI laws to the North Carolina General Assembly.
During the field sobriety demonstration, Al Eisele, director of the task force’s Forensic Tests for Alcohol Branch, introduced the state’s new breathalyzer equipment: the Intoxilyzer 500. He also showed off “The Batmobile,” the mobile unit the DWI enforcement personnel use.
According to current North Carolina law, a driver under the age of 21 that has any traces of alcohol or drugs in his system can be charged with a class two misdemeanor. A driver can also be charged with a misdemeanor if there are any open containers of alcohol in his vehicle.
Members at the meeting acknowledged the prevalence of underage drinking, especially on college campuses. Although the drunk driving rates have not increased or decreased dramatically over the past year, members of the task force agreed that the high numbers of DWI citations in North Carolina and across the nation should be a concern to everyone.
They did not, however, put forward any new recommendations for curbing underage alcohol consumption. Their main priority has been to encourage student awareness of alcohol effects and to give them the knowledge to make informed decisions.
Duke requires freshmen to complete an online alcohol course, AlcoholEdu. Although the University takes the same approach to education advocated by the task force, many students have questioned AlcoholEdu’s effectiveness.
“I seriously doubt it changed anybody’s mind about [alcohol],” freshman Margaret Morales said.
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