Col. Steve McCraw, Director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, says that, "Texans have many choices for how to get home after a few drinks." He urges them to exercise one of those choices and not risk paying a heavy price for failure to do so.

DWI patrols are out in force throughout Texas, especially during the summer months. The Texas Department of Transportation has just commenced its annual "Drink. Drive. Go to Jail" campaign, and police officers throughout the state are working - many of them overtime hours - through Labor Day in the program and on a tandem initiative targeting drunk drivers.

"If you're caught drinking and driving in Texas," says McCraw, "you will go to jail." Safety officials justify their tough stance on statistics that they hope will dramatically increase drivers' awareness of the problem, such as the following: In 2009, 955 Texans died in accidents involving drunk drivers, with an additional 17,500 being injured.

McCraw states that Texas traffic enforcement officers "have heard just about every excuse in the book" for driving drunk. He says that excuses "are no consolation to the family of someone killed or injured by a drunk driver," and he reiterates the message: If you've been drinking, avail yourself of some other means than driving personally to get home. Call a cab. Take a bus. Contact a friend.

Just stay out of your car. If you're convicted of DWI, the state Department of Public Safety states that the costs and penalties associated with the charge could be in excess of $17,000.

Related Resource: www.themonitor.com "State warns of drunken driving crackdown" August 16, 2010