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Plano police crack down on DWIs during holiday
By Stephanie Flemmons, Staff writer
During the holiday weekend, Plano police will have additional officers patrolling the streets looking for motorists driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) funds the extra enforcement through its Impaired Driver Mobility grant program.
“This grant assists us to put extra personnel on the streets so we can find these drunk drivers and get them off the roadway,” said Rick McDonald, Plano police spokesman.
“Do the right thing -- it will save lives,” McDonald said. “If you drink and drive you will be arrested.”
According to TxDOT, every 20 minutes someone in Texas is hurt or killed in a crash involving alcohol. The agency states impairment begins with the first drink. Gender, body weight, the number of drinks a person has consumed and the amount of food eaten affects the body’s ability to handle alcohol. Two or three beers in an hour can make some people legally intoxicated. Women, younger people and smaller people generally become impaired with less alcohol.
In Texas, a person is legally intoxicated and may be arrested and charged with a DWI with a .08 blood alcohol concentration or higher.
A person can also be charged with child endangerment for driving while intoxicated with a passenger younger than 15 years old.
For a first offense DWI, those convicted can spend up to 180 days in jail, lose their driver’s license up to one year and pay a $2,000 fine.
For a second DWI conviction, a person can spend up to one year in jail, lose their driver’s license for two years and pay a $4,000 fine.
For a third DWI conviction, a person could spend up to 10 years in prison, lose their driver’s license for two years and pay a $10,000 fine.
Contact Stephanie Flemmons at sflemmons@acnpapers.com
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