According to Houston’s Fox 26 TV, Harris County residents are more likely to be killed by a drunk driver than those of any other highly-populous county in the United States. (Harris County ranks third, with more than 4 million residents.)

This sobering threat to public safety is why local law enforcement agencies are gearing up to bring down the number of drunk drivers. They’re doing this via a multi-agency crackdown. Through Labor Day weekend, law officers will be working overtime to spot drunk drivers and get them off our roads, streets and highways.

Another part of the campaign is Choose Your Ride. This program emphasizes that those who drink should do anything but drive a vehicle. Instead, they are urged to take a cab or a bus, or ride with a sober friend or designated driver. Otherwise, they may wind up riding with a police officer — to jail.

Last year, 955 Texans were killed by drunk drivers, and another 17,000 were injured, many of them with catastrophic injuries such as paralysis, brain injury or amputation.

Overall, about 12,000 Americans perish annually from drunk drivers. In fact, since 1982 drunk drivers have killed half a million Americans — or more than have died at the hands of all foreign enemies in every armed conflict since World War I.

Also tragic is that these DUI accident fatalities aren’t the only victims. Many leave behind grieving families who must cope forever with a senseless tragedy.

This slaughter of innocents continues unabated, including the deaths of four members of a San Antonio family Sunday when an allegedly drunk driver crashed into them. Another Texas drunk driving fatality was the daughter of Houston firefighter Mark Rodriguez, who lost her life last February.

Rodriguez is supporting the state’s crackdown efforts, and he also hopes laws will change to make a first DUI offense lead to mandatory jail time.

“To some people this may seem harsh,” he told Fox 26 TV, “but my daughter will never get a second chance.”

Jim S. Adler & Associates strongly supports Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), law enforcement agencies and anyone involved in efforts to stop drunk drivers from killing innocent Americans.

If you know anyone or observe anyone who is driving while drunk, or about to drive drunk, do what you can to intervene and stop them. When it comes to drunk drivers, the price for anything less than zero tolerance has long proven to be far too high.

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