San Antonio, home of the Alamo, is also known for hosting one of the largest parties of the year – Fiesta. Its Battle of Flowers Parade and Fiesta Flambeau parade draw more than 100,000 spectators, and the 10-day, citywide party hosts hundreds of individual parties and celebrations.

With any large party comes excessive drinking.

Texas is currently considering new measures with regard to drunk driving. The Texas Senate recently passed two bills that have yet to become law; one to establish sobriety check points in major metropolitan areas and another for mandatory blood tests of DWI suspects.

Bexar County District Attorney, Susan Reed, has already passed such measures for holidays with high incidence of DWI arrests and accidents. Memorial Day 2008 and this past New Year's District Attorney Reed issued the “No Refusal Accepted” ordinance which permitted police to acquire warrants to draw blood on any DWI suspects refusing a breath test.

This measure has gone into effect again for the 10-day Fiesta celebration, which kicked off today in the Alamo City.

Bexar County's goal, aligned with a broader Texas goal, is to make mandatory blood tests the rule, rather than the exception.

More information can be found in a recent San Antonio Current article:
http://www.sacurrent.com/blog/queblog.asp?perm=69655