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Thursday, March 6, 2008

A Daily Reminder to Not Drink and Drive

By Laura Nesbitt
Mountain View Telegraph
    The Torrance County sheriff and undersheriff are calendar men for January 2008, but the only skin exposed is on the tops of their heads.
    Sheriff Clarence Gibson and Undersheriff Heath White, who both sport bald pates, are representing Torrance County in the latest version of a calendar promoting DWI awareness.
    "I can tell everybody I'm married to a calendar guy," Dorothy Gibson, emergency services director, said at a recent Torrance County Commission meeting.
    The 2008 Buckle Up New Mexico Don't Drink and Drive traffic safety related calendar was developed by the New Mexico Department of Transportation and Safer New Mexico Now, said Franklin Garcia, New Mexico Department of Transportation Traffic Safety Bureau staff manager.
    "Torrance County (Sheriff's Department) is going above and beyond to ask its officers to work overtime to enforce DWI programs," Garcia said.
    Since 1985, Safer New Mexico Now has coordinated programs and partnerships that promote increased occupant protection and decreased injuries, according to its Web site.
    About 2,000 calendars are printed annually and distributed statewide to law enforcement agencies, city managers, health departments and others as a way to promote the traffic safety program, Garcia said.
    The Traffic Safety Bureau sends out an e-mail to participating agencies before selecting the agencies chosen for the calendar. Agencies are rotated "so it isn't the same agencies every year" in the calendar, Garcia said.
    The state agency receives state and federal funding to fund DWI, traffic safety related and training opportunity programs, Garcia said.
    From March 14 through March 30, sheriff's deputies will once again work overtime as part of Operation DWI and Operation Buckle Down, said Jessica Miller, sheriff's administrator.
    "There will be a no-tolerance policy," Miller said. In other words, deputies will pull over vehicles and issue tickets for broken headlights and not just speeding violations, Miller said.
    Up to four additional deputies will patrol day and night for Operation DWI in four-hour shifts in different areas of the county, Miller said.
    For Operation Buckle Down, up to two additional deputies will patrol during the day because of the rural nature of the county. Deputies are not able to see if someone is wearing a seat belt at night, Miller said.
    At a Torrance County Commission meeting last December, Miller told commissioners that the sheriff and undersheriff were featured in the calendar.
    The sheriff and undersheriff then were the victims of some good-natured ribbing.
    "You guys either need to tan your heads or get a darker building," said County Manager Joy Ansley.