Sometimes two events come together like chocolate and peanut butter. That’s how Summit County Sheriff Justin Martinez is describing the unusual pairing of bad road design and new DUI laws.
In the Summer of 2018, Kilby Road, which runs from the Fresh Market to the outlet mall, was redesigned in an endless series of back and forth curves that have left drivers perplexed as to how to navigate the road. Then in January 2019, a new DUI law was enacted that lowered the acceptable blood-alcohol content to .05 — from .08.
Martinez boasted, “This combination has been incredible for our DUI enforcement. We just sit on Kilby R
“The great thing is that someone may have taken cough syrup or that weird tea available at Costco and bam that’s thousands of dollars they’ll be donating to Summit County, ” he says with a chuckle.
We spoke with a deputy, who wanted to remain anonymous. She said, “Sometimes I feel a little bad when I pull over a mom with three kids in the car driving down Kilby road. I’ll make her get out and do the sobriety tests, while her kids watch. Even if she’s sober, she has no chance of passing those tests. I’ll then administer the breathalyzer. Even if she blows a 0.0, obviously she was still swerving, so it doesn’t matter. She’s going to jail. How could she drive like that with children in the car?”
Martinez says they will be working with Summit County Public Works to upgrade more roads to match the Kilby design. “We’re looking at the future of policing here. We’re a leader nationwide.”
