Mark Blair, Hartsville Police Department Public Information Officer
mark.blair@hartsvillesc.gov
843.383.3011

For Immediate Release — August 29, 2018


College and High School Students and DUI

Impaired driving is a serious problem for college and high school students. US statistics show in a recent study that 3.4 million students between the ages of 18 and 24 drove while under the influence of alcohol. The Hartsville Police Department is asking that you make the right choices as you begin this new school year.

If you are of age, please make sure you have a designated driver. Studies show that 12% of college students surveyed admitted to having five or more beers after they had agreed to be the designated driver. Of the group surveyed, 23% admitted they had at least one beer. If you are under twenty-one years old, please remember that underage consumption and possession of alcohol is illegal in South Carolina.

Driving Under the Influence has many consequences. The greatest consequence is the loss of life. No family should ever have to suffer losing someone over this terrible crime. There are also numerous consequences you could face if you were to survive a DUI related crash or if you are convicted of DUI. If you are attending College or are enrolled in programs that are grant or scholarship funded, you could lose that financial support based on off-campus conduct. These sources of funding are vitally important and one conviction could ruin it all for you. You are working hard on establishing a foundation for your future success in life. Please do not do anything to jeopardize your future, your life or someone else’s life based on your decision to drive impaired.

The Hartsville Police Department will continue aggressive enforcement of DUI offenders. So far this year, HPD has taken over 70 impaired drivers off of the streets of Hartsville. As a part of our efforts to reduce impaired driving, we will continue to use public safety checkpoints and aggressive impaired driving situations. We want everyone to be safe on our roadways, and we want to wish all students a happy and successful school year.

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