The Times is doing a series of articles highlighting commonly broken laws, explaining common misconceptions about the laws and detailing what types of actions will get a person arrested. Today, we examine the drunken driving laws. To suggest a law for The Times to highlight, contact the writer.

Special Section: Catch up on previous articles.

Every day, three or four people get arrested on drunken driving charges in Porter County -- making it one of the offenses most likely to fill the county jail.

"When you make 1,300 arrests for drunken driving (in a year) -- and those are the ones we catch. It's unknown the amount who aren't getting caught -- I'd say that is a problem," said Valparaiso police Sgt. Michael Grennes, who also serves as Porter County Drunk Driving Task Force chairman.

In Indiana, it is illegal to drive with a blood-alcohol concentration of .08 or above. A 160-pound person can reach that level by drinking about four drinks in one hour.

Drunken driving is a misdemeanor offense, with first time offenders generally not receiving jail time. However, the offense becomes a felony if the person has a prior conviction during the previous five years or if the drunken driving results in injury or death.

A person faces up to three years in prison if they injure somebody, or eight years if they have a prior conviction. A person faces up to eight years if they kill someone, or 20 years if they have a prior conviction.

People stopped on suspicion of drunken driving and who refuse to take a breath test, face the loss of their license for a year. And, Grennes said, police have the option of getting a search warrant for the person's blood in order to test for alcohol levels.

Grennes said police throughout Porter County put a lot of effort into combatting drunken driving in an effort to protect the public. The Task Force pays for extra patrols on holidays and other times when drunken driving generally increases. Police also use Operation Pull Over grant money for drunken driving patrols.

The Task Force also offers $50 at various times throughout the year to encourage people to report drunken drivers. The last big crackdown was on Labor Day.

In addition to the enforcement, the Task Force also spends money on education programs designed to make people think twice before driving drunk.

Despite those efforts, drunken driving remains a huge issue, Grennes said, because many people are addicted to alcohol and because drinking is ingrained in our culture as a way to socialize and unwind. And ours is a society in which people drive almost everywhere they go. Grennes encourages drinkers to use designated drivers or call for a taxi.