State of North Carolina
Office of the Governor
Michael F. Easley
Governor
Release: IMMEDIATE Contact: Kasey Bensinger
Date:
4/19/2004
Phone: (919) 733-5612
GO V. EASLEY ANNOUNCES DRIVING WHILE IMPAIRED TASK FORCE
Raleigh - Gov. Mike Easley today announced the creation of the Driving While Impaired Task
Force. The group was established by executive order on December 3, 2003.
“The operation of motor vehicles on our highways by people driving while impaired is a serious
threat to the safety and health of our citizens," Easley said. "This task force will study and
develop new measures to address this issue and work to reduce the number of fatal crashes on
our highways.”
The task force is charged with reviewing the general statutes in North Carolina and proposals in
other states to deter driving while impaired, considering legislative proposals to the General
Assembly and recommending additional actions to reduce driving while impaired. Senator Tony
Rand, Cumberland County; Representative Joe Hackney, Orange County; and James Hardin,
district attorney for Durham County will co-chair the group.
Other members include: Stuart Albright, Guildford County district attorney; Isaac T. “Ike" Avery
III, special deputy attorney general in the N.C. Department of Justice; Jimmy Ashe, Jackson
County sheriff; Melanie F. Chernoff, director of the El Pueblo’s Highway Safety Campaign;
Becky Blackwell, state chairperson of North Carolina’s Mothers Against Drink Driving; Joseph
Alfred Blick, district court judge in Greenville; Earl R. “Moose" Butler, Cumberland County sheriff;
Jeffrey J. Cruden, Wake County assistant district attorney; Michael Eisen, director of the Office
of Underage Drinking Initiatives in the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services; Dr.
Robert D. Foss, senior research scientist for the UNC Highway Safety Research Center; Dr.
Herbert G. Garrison, professor and interim chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at
East Carolina University; Peter S. Gilchrist III, district attorney for Charlotte and Mecklenburg
County; Thomas Scott "Scotty" Hill, deputy director of Kinston Public Safety Department; Colonel
Richard Holden, commander of the N.C. State Highway Patrol; Scott Hunter, chief of the State
Capitol Police; J. Darrell Jernigan, director of the Governor’s Highway Safety Program; David D.
King, deputy secretary for transit for the N.C. Department of Transportation; John M. Kennedy,
director of the Administrative Office of the Courts; David N. "Crockett” Long, executive vice
president and general manager of Long Beverage Inc.; Jim Long, commissioner of the N.C.
Department of Insurance; Barbara A. Martin, research associate in Health Sciences at Wake
Forest University; Axel Lluch, director of Hispanic and Latino Affairs in Governor Easley’s Office;
Col. David Mathews, retired from the N.C. State Highway Patrol; Shawn Parker, NASCAR crew
chief with Ultra Motorsports in Cornelius; Elbert L. Peters, retired, former commissioner of the
