Cracking down on DUI's is something Governor Mark Sanford is pushing for in the State House and it's already being felt in Charleston. Authorities say DUI arrests are up nearly 250 percent from years past and a new effort may make you think twice before drinking and getting behind the wheel. Just last week the City of Charleston's Traffic Division initiated a safety check point blitz and in just five days, officers issued more than 341 citations and 23 arrests.

For a mother who's spent the last seven and a half years mourning her son's death from a DUI accident, the crackdown couldn't have come soon enough. Ann Rowland lost her 18-year-old son in June of 2000. Mike was riding in a friends car down I-26, when the driver lost control.

"I know it's cliché when they say not a day goes by when you don't think about him, but honest to God, it's true," said Rowland.

A public service video was made shortly after Mike's death, but Rowland watched it for the first time last week.

DUI deaths are up in South Carolina, but so to are DUI arrests in the City of Charleston. In 2007, officers made 489 DUI arrests. That number is up 242 percent for 2006.

Police are also toughening up on drivers without insurance or suspended licenses. The number of traffic check points jumped from 26 in 2006 to 106 last year. That's a 308 percent hike.

"It's like playing russian roulette with your life to get behind the wheel after you've been drinking, just don't do it," said Lt. Chip Searson of the Charleston's Traffic Division.

Lt. Searson says from now on, drivers can expect the unexpected. He says the days when drivers used to think officers were too busy chasing rapists or robbers, to pay attention to DUI, are over.

Rowland's hopeful this warning from police and this video message will resonate with those who drink and drive.

"It just breaks my heart for anyone to have to go through that. It's a terrible thing," said Rowland. Chief Greg Mullen has designated specific squads which focus on DUI enforcement. There were 31 arrests in all of January.