A total of 288 motorists were stopped by 26 officers, deputies and troopers for unsafe driving during the special Tacoma/Pierce County DUI and Traffic Safety multi-agency patrol. About half of the drivers stopped were not found to be driving under the influence of anything; the other half were arrested for DUI, and cited for either the probable cause behavior the arresting officer alleged—such as speeding or negligent driving—or some other incidental violation, such as violating intermediate driving license restrictions, not wearing a seatbelt, driving without insurance or while their license was suspended.

Click It 2 Ride wallet cards, featuring bar codes that could be scanned by a smart phone to call a local cab company, were distributed to bartenders, servers and patrons.

“By using the cards, drinkers could choose to ride in a taxi instead of a police car on a day notorious for beer and impaired driving,” said Fircrest Police Chief John Cheesman, chairman of the Tacoma Pierce County DUI and Traffic Safety Task Force. “Drivers make their own luck when it comes to avoiding a DUI.”

Participating in the patrol and bar program were the Tacoma, Lakewood, Fife, Fircrest, Gig Harbor and Puyallup police departments along with the Washington Liquor Control Board, Pierce County Sheriff’s Department and the Washington State Patrol. Funding for the patrol was provided by the participating law enforcement agencies and the Washington Traffic Safety Commission. The task force is administered by Pierce County Community Connections.