By
Christian Richardson
Arizona Daily Wildcat
UA students can receive DUI even if their blood alcohol level is below .10
Drivers under the age of 21 can receive a DUI for drinking a beer and getting behind the wheel, regardless of their blood alcohol level.
There have been 109 underage arrests since February, said Ed Slechta, president of the task force in Southern Arizona which has a "zero tolerance" policy.
One out of every three drivers pulled over by the DUI Task Force is arrested for driving under the influence, Slechta said.
The biggest DUI offenders are 19 to 29 year olds, he said, and members of the task force usually look for slow and erratic drivers.
The task force made 287 DUI arrests from January through Labor Day weekend, Slechta said.
"A DUI driver is a bullet looking for a target," he said. "We look at every person as a potential."
A DUI first-time offender receives a mandatory 24 hours in jail, up to a $700 fine and a 90-day suspension of their license. An individual who commits a second offense stays in jail for 10 days and gets a 90-day suspension of their license, Slechta said.
Slechta, who is also an Arizona Department of Public Safety sergeant, said there is an extreme DUI statute for drivers with a blood alcohol level of 0.18 and above. The penalty is a one-year suspended license, up to 20 days in jail and a $1500 fine.
Mike Ferguson, a mechanical engineering freshman, said he occasionally drives while intoxicated.
"I try not to, but sometimes it happens," Ferguson said.
He added that he usually stays at a friend's house if he is too drunk to drive.
In 1998, there were 652 DUI arrests and 558 in 1999, Slechta said.
However, most UA students are more responsible when it comes to mixing alcohol and automobiles, he added.
"We haven't really had too much of a problem (with UA students)."
Marketing senior Brian Proud said he thinks the penalty for driving while intoxicated should be more severe.
"If you're that drunk, you should get a harsher penalty," he said.
There has been a decline since the early 1980s, when there were more than 1000 DUI arrests per year, Slechta said.
Slechta said the DUI task force was founded in July 1992 and started deploying officers Labor Day weekend 1992.
He added, on that weekend, there was a four-day deployment which resulted in 100 arrests per night. The task force scours Tucson and Pima County highways 14 times a year on all major holidays.
The task force educates the public using a guideline known as the three E's, engineer the laws, educate the public about drinking and driving and enforce the laws.
Education has made a difference, Slechta said.
The task force also looks for drivers under the influence of drugs and has recognition experts just to determine if a driver is under the influence of marijuana or cocaine.
"Our job is to collect the most valuable evidence possible," said Slechta.
