Horry County has the highest number of DUI arrests over the holidays
We win. What kind of prize do we get?
South Carolina Highway Patrol troopers made the most arrests for driving under the influence in Horry County during the recent holiday period, according to figures released from the state Department of Public Safety.Troopers issued 33 DUI citations in Horry County from Dec. 31 to Jan. 4, said Sid Gaulden, state public safety spokesman. Richland County was second with 22 citations issued, followed by 18 citations written in York County and 17 in Greenville County, he said.
I will say that over past several weeks I have seen more flashing blue lights on the roadsides than ever, troopers, county, and city police. My guess is that they were not just looking for DUI's, but rather pulling over anybody that they could for anything under the sun, hoping to smell alcohol once they got to the car window.
Also, we have gotten many calls in the last week or so regarding DUI's and other charges stemming from questionable roadblocks - described as being set up in dark areas with no lights or warning that there was a roadblock ahead.
Comments
Budgets are tight. What better way to generate revenue than to hand out traffic citiations with arbitrarily set fines (that are way higher than the laws state they should be) and a push-em-through court system that discourages any kind of defense against the city or county. Couple that with speed limits that are set based on weak or no engineering data at all and you've got a nice cash machine you can crank up or down... all under the guise of public safety.
Posted by: Paul | January 11, 2009 9:26 AM
Richland Co, #2 with 22 DUIs.. wow, even if half of those are BS, you'd think their resources would be better put towards catching drunken drivers than pursuing Phelps who hit the bong 5 months ago. We live in sad times with screwy priorities.
Posted by: booker | February 12, 2009 4:43 PM