Law enforcement personnel all over Oregon are participating in “saturation” patrols for intoxicated drivers. The City of Eugene is trying to make it easier for people out drinking downtown to get taxis so they’re not getting behind the wheel.
Kelly Putnam is Public Safety Program Manager for downtown Eugene. She says the city has instituted 2 taxi staging stations downtown on Friday and Saturday nights. The stations are each just a block away from Eugene’s “Bar-muda Triangle” at Broadway and Olive, where throngs of people leave the bars seeking a safe way home.
Putnam: “We’ve got a lot of intoxicated folks who are trying to flag down taxi-cabs, stepping into the street, going onto the median. We have taxis that have come to pick up their fare and while they’re waiting for their fare or looking for their fare, they’re just parking in the middle of the street because there’s no place to pull over.”
Putnam says Eugene police normally make up to a dozen DUI arrests over a weekend. More are expected on New Year’s Eve with so many people out celebrating.
