Alabama Troopers Blitz Drunk Drivers

By Steve Alexander Reporter

"Take Back Our Highways" program winds down. Alabama Troopers Blitz Drunk Drivers

Published: Wed, November 26, 2008 - 10:32 pm Last Updated: Wed, November 26, 2008 - 11:01 pm

Steve Alexander

Alabama State Troopers will be keeping a close eye on roads and highways this Thanksgiving.
They ended their week-long "Take Back Our Highways" blitz Wednesday night.
Corporal Stan Stabler with the Alabama State Troopers said, "I think statistics show that we have more wrecks during that period, a lot of extra traffic, travelling.
Troopers put out DUI-testing labs called "Batmobiles" and set up sobriety checkpoints.
Stabler said, "We've got two work stations. Troopers can bring in their lap tops and can issue citations, hook up to the printers and print it all out."
But the key piece of equipment is called a "Drager," a brand name for a portable breath analyzer.
Stabler said, "Everything is stored in the 'Drager.' We get back into the office, we plug in the phone line and download everything up to the Department of Forensic Science."
Troopers said it only takes five to eight minutes to actually run the test.
The "Batmobile" saves troopers from having to bring those who have been arrested back to the main station for testing.
When asked if they have a lot of people waiting in the "Batmobile" at one time, Stabler said, "We had three in here the other night, but we can sit quite a few on that bench and handcuff them to that security rail."
Alabama State Troopers said they plan another "Take Back Our Highways" blitz December 17th.