County Attorney Thomas launches new anti-DUI campaign

This should deter a lot of potential drunk drivers - pictures of convicted DUI offenders will be posted on stopduiaz.com. Check out the penalties - blowing a .08 BAC level (or it could be less if you're "impaired to the slightest degree") results in at least a day of jail, probation, $500 fine, and driver's license suspension. Never mind the fact it will follow you around everywhere, to every job you apply for in the future. A .15 BAC level will get you one of those ignition interlock devices installed on your steering wheel that you have to blow into in order to start your car.

New Campaign Aims to Prevent Drunk Driving
TV, Radio, Billboard and Internet Send a Powerful Message

The County Attorney’s Office is launching an anti-drunk driving campaign warning drivers of the legal consequences they face if they decide to drink and drive, County Attorney Andrew Thomas announced today. The campaign includes messages on TV, radio, billboards and on a county attorney sponsored website www.stopduiaz.com. Convicted criminals are paying for most of this campaign because most of the funding is from assets seized through RICO (Racketeering Influence and Corrupt Organization) statutes. The remainder comes from $188,530 allocated by the DUI Abatement Fund, operated by the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission. The goal of the Abatement Fund is to help finance Arizona programs and services in order to reduce occurrences of driving under the influence. Much of the money from that fund comes from fines and penalties leveled against convicted impaired drivers.

Part of the campaign includes posting the pictures of convicted DUI offenders on stopduiaz.com. The website also includes statistics on DUI’s, tips on prevention, and reporting drunk drivers. The goal of this campaign is to give potential drunk drivers one last warning in the hope they’ll make a life-saving decision and not get behind the wheel.

“Day after day, our prosecutors deal with cases involving intoxicated drivers who destroy lives,” said County Attorney Andrew Thomas. “This campaign represents an appeal to all drivers to think of the consequences of drinking and driving.”

This campaign continues a similar effort launched by the office last year. This time, the campaign has added billboards along freeways and streets in the Valley to communicate directly with motorists. “These campaigns represent a larger mission at the County Attorney’s Office,” said Thomas. “In addition to putting criminal offenders behind bars, we are committed to crime prevention. When I ran for county attorney, I pledged to make crime prevention programs a high priority of my administration. The best way to deal with crime is to prevent it from happening in the first place. It’s an added benefit that we are able to use money seized from criminals to prevent crime in this manner.”


For more information contact:
Mike Anthony Scerbo, Public Information Officer
(602) 506-3170 (office) or (602) 489-6913 (cell)