by Katy Knapp
Daily Lobo
Mayor Martin Ch†vez is making it harder for people to drink and drive in Albuquerque.
He signed a bill into law Wednesday that will require Albuquerque police officers to temporarily seize vehicles of drunk drivers on their first offense.
Ch†vez stood in front of a display of dozens of photographs of victims of drunk driving in the Mothers Against Drunk Driving office.
"Behind me in the black frames are Albuquerqueans and New Mexicans who are dead because of driving," he said. "White frames are people who were severely injured."
He said until drinking and driving is no longer an issue, he doesn't foresee backing down.
A lot of people ask Terry Huertaz if she wanted to be State Executive Director of MADD because she lost a loved one to drunk driving, she said.
"I was a school teacher, and I had a student that was killed in a crash," she said. "So that's about as personal as it got for me, but that was enough."
The latest statistics from MADD show drunk driving deaths and injuries are not decreasing significantly. In 2002, the number of deaths and injuries in New Mexico was 219. In 2003, the number dropped to 198.
Huertaz said she hopes the law will help bring the numbers down more.
Vehicles are weapons, Ch†vez said, and should be taken away from people who can't use them responsibly.
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"Similar to any other stop where dangerous weapons are found, if there is a gun, they take the gun," he said. "This is just prudent policing."
The purpose of the bill is to change behavior of people who drink and drive, Ch†vez said. He said once people get their vehicles back, they will either have a boot placed on their wheels for 30 to 60 days or have an ignition lock installed.
Ch†vez said some people in the community have expressed concerns about the bill. He said he received an e-mail from someone who thought it was unfair to have their expensive vehicles seized.
It didn't make a difference how expensive the car was to victims of DWI, Ch†vez said.
He said most people in Albuquerque have friends or family who have drinking problems and don't change their lives until they hit rock bottom.
"We will simply remove the weapons of destruction from them until someday they can hopefully control their addictions," Ch†vez said.
Pete Dinelli, a city deputy attorney, said when dealing with DWIs, they are dealing with weapons.
"There is no difference when we seize a handgun from an individual who may have perpetrated a crime," Dinelli said. "We are going to be very aggressive with them."
He said the city has 250 boots available for the program and are negotiating with property owners of the lot where vehicles are stored to expand the space to accommodate the seizures.
"The total number of vehicles we anticipate we will be seizing a month will be 700," Dinelli said, adding 500 of those will be vehicles seized under the new law.
"We anticipate roughly two-thirds of those will be first-time offenders," he said.
The city council approved the bill in a 7-0 vote. Two councilors were absent and excused from voting, Ch†vez said.
Huertaz said people wanting to get involved in MADD are not just victims of drinking and driving.
"You can either be drafted into this fight, or you can volunteer," she said. "When you get drafted because you've lost someone, that's not good."
