About midweek, bars and clubs start hopping. But while some are in search of a good time, getting behind the wheel after a few drinks can turn a good night around in a hurry.
"(Driving under the influence of alcohol) is a problem everywhere," said Auburn police Captain Tommy Carswell, "but I think the problem is enhanced by two things: our college population, because it is a young, drinking age-population, but also, just by the ... raw number of people that we have in town."
Carswell said the incidence of DUI is highest between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. and on the weekends, and he thinks college students are a major contributor.
"You have people that are becoming drinking age, you have people that have never been away from home and on their own before without direct parental supervision, and all that just really adds up," Carswell said.
Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones said their office is committed to stopping impaired driving, which is often caused by people who are driving under the influence of alcohol.
"A lot of people just feel like they can handle the situation," Jones said. "They don't think about the consequences."
Carswell said impaired driving is often the most obvious way to notice someone driving under the influence.
A lack of judgment caused by alcohol levels, Carswell said, is what causes people to drive drunk--perhaps ignorant of how intoxicated they are.
"We go out and test them, and we have training that tells us," Carswell said. "This driver doesn't have that same training."
In 2010 Auburn police officers made 406 DUI arrests. Of those, 265 were ages 18 to 25.
"I think proportionately there may be a higher incidence in Lee County than another county without the same demographic that we have," Jones said.
Jones said he thinks people don't realize the full extent of what can happen if they are driving drunk--both in terms of the penalties and the dangers.
"You can cause an accident and seriously injure someone else or yourself or lose your life," Jones said.
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