Fighting DUIs without jail time

Twenty court appearances, 48 group therapy sessions and 108 drug and alcohol tests during a 14-month period -- it wasn’t easy, but for some people convicted of drunk driving, it was a better path than jail.

Fifteen people who elected a rehabilitation program instead of jail time graduated Friday from the first class of the Orange County Superior Court’s DUI court.

The Orange County program at the Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach is one of only two DUI courts in California. DUI court is designed for repeat offenders who want to address their drinking problem and seek treatment.

“I think it is a humane way to approach DUI cases,” said DUI Court Judge Carl Biggs.

But the program isn’t for everyone -- they have to want to be there.

“People can change their behavior, but they need some help doing it,” Biggs said. “They have to want to accept treatment.”

Each of the 15 graduates delivered a speech Friday, each one acknowledging a personal battle with alcoholism and a commitment to address the problem.

One man, whose wife and children were in the audience, reported 16 months of sobriety after years of drinking. He had tried previous rehabilitation programs, but none worked as well as the DUI court program.

Forty-thousand people die on California’s roadways each year; between 16,000 and 17,000 of those deaths are the result of drunk driving, said Bill Kootsikis, regional manager for the Western division of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The average DUI offender has driven drunk between 200 and 300 times before getting caught for the first time, Kootsikis said.

Reidel Post, executive director of the Orange County chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, commended the graduates for making it through the program.

“I’d like to thank you for having the courage to stand up to your demons ... But it doesn’t end when you leave here,” Post said.