DUI never safe bet

In the end, it comes down to personal responsibility.

A front-page story in this newspaper Sunday detailed the stepped-up efforts that Mohegan Sun and its owner, the Mohegan Tribe, are taking to keep intoxicated patrons from driving away from the casino.

Drunken drivers maim and kill themselves and other innocent people. They destroy lives and property. Drunken driving is illegal, but that doesn't mean everyone who imbibes obeys the law. Sometimes they don't.

In four separate cases since last March, allegedly drunken drivers who had been at the casino were involved in fatal accidents. That is four cases too many, and as a result, state police and Mohegan Sun have increased their surveillance efforts to identify intoxicated drivers. While police are arresting drunken drivers, casino personnel are going to extremes to keep inebriated patrons from getting behind the wheel of a vehicle.

Not only has the casino reduced the amount of liquor it serves in its drinks, but it has cut to two the number of drinks it will serve a customer within one hour. It has also increased the number and types of checkpoints for identifying potentially intoxicated patrons, including better educating servers on which customers may have had too much to drink, and shutting off those who have.

They are also patrolling exits and parking garages looking for stumbling, slurring people who may be preparing to drive, and enticing them back into the casino for free coffee and food or putting them in a cab.

Mohegan Sun is making a serious attempt to curtail drunken driving, and it should, considering the number of alcohol-serving establishments at the casino. But ultimately, it is a personal decision for someone who has over-indulged to get behind the wheel and drive. The best training, surveillance and outreach will not prevent every drunken-driving wreck and fatality.

Anyone who decides to drink must assume personal responsibility.