Editor's note: Megan Sheppard joined Washington State Trooper Josh Stuart for a ride-along last December when he was on a weekend DUI patrol, looking for holiday drivers under the influence -- a sobering reminder that drinking and driving don’t mix any time of year.

“Welcome to my world,” says Trooper Josh Stuart with a wry smile.

It's a world where drunk drivers ram the patrol car as you help a stranded motorist.

Where you're the first on scene when three cars hit and kill a pedestrian and none of the drivers bother to stop.

Where language barriers and stereotypes between law-enforcement and citizens can lead to misunderstandings and ill will.

For this, the 27-year-old Stuart left law school?

"My parents are still trying to figure that one out," he chuckles.

It's a Friday around 10 p.m., and we're out on patrol, monitoring a wide freeway and surface-street corridor for drivers under the influence.

When it comes to crossing jurisdictions, troopers of the Washington State Patrol often have greater flexibility than their law-enforcement counterparts in the cities and counties. On this night, our route would take us from the south end, near Sea-Tac International Airport, to downtown Seattle.

On I-5 South, near Boeing Field, Stuart is finishing up with a driver who has expired tabs. As the trooper returns to the car, a speeding Honda passes us and repeatedly crosses the lane lines.

Stuart flips on the lights and sirens and I hold on tight as we fly down the wet freeway in pursuit.

The driver doesn't slow down and, in fact, moves to a left lane instead of moving right.

“This is not good,” Stuart says grimly.

But in short order the driver does pull off to the right shoulder. Stuart approaches the car with his flashlight trained on the interior. The driver is alone in the car, 18 years old, and speaks little English. He has no ID and no driver's license.

He is polite and shows no signs of intoxication. Stuart lets him go with a warning.

Language barriers arise frequently in his work, but Stuart makes it a point to show patience -- to be “sensitive to the various communities” that populate our region.”

(A world traveler and former exchange student, he holds dual degrees from the UW in Sociology and Society and Justice.)

In fact, awhile later Stuart watches a 4x4 truck for several miles as it repeatedly drifts toward the edge of its lane. He finally pulls the driver over at the Dearborn exit on northbound I-5. Once again, English is not the driver's first language.

The man is cooperative and his paperwork is in order, but Stuart smells alcohol on his breath. He runs the driver through the field sobriety tests (for balance, concentration and so forth) and has him blow in the portable breathalyzer. The result shows him to be under the legal limit, so he is let go with a warning.

While Stuart tests this driver, I notice that another trooper has pulled up and parked a discreet distance away. He remains until Stuart signals him that all is under control.

Informal backup like this is common, I'm told. It's apparent that the troopers look out for each other.

We're downtown as midnight approaches, and Stuart notes that company holiday parties will soon be winding down soon.

As we wait at a red light, he notices that the Cadillac in front of us has expired tabs and that the driver has pulled too far into the crosswalk, forcing pedestrians to walk around the vehicle.

When the light turns green, Stuart follows the car around the corner and pulls it over with a flash of sirens and lights.

After speaking with the driver, he returns to the patrol car.

“Just two middle-aged couples out for dinner. They have the tabs, but the driver's wife forgot to put them on the car.”

After seeing him give so many verbal warnings, I ask Stuart what infraction warrants a ticket these days.

“It’s a question of priorities,” he says. “If I spend ten minutes writing a ticket for a minor infraction, I might miss the opportunity to pick up a drunk driver.”

Moments later, at Sixth and Cherry, Stuart pulls over a luxury car being driven without headlights. After a few words, he has the driver on the sidewalk performing field sobriety tests.

Though I'm watching from inside the patrol car, I can tell that the driver -- a 50-something, petite Patty Murray look-alike -- is failing. Stuart leaves the woman on the sidewalk as he retrieves the portable breathalyzer from the console.

Between the two of us, and with the confidence of a sideshow barker estimating a fairgoer's weight, he predicts -- based on the woman's size and performance on the field tests -- how intoxicated she is.

When his prediction proves accurate -- seemingly to the swallow -- it’s clear that Stuart has seen and dealt with a lot of drunk drivers in his four years on the patrol.

He places the woman under arrest and leads her to the back of the patrol car. Her sober companion drives the woman's car home.

Her tiny, quavering voice queries from the backseat: “Am I in trouble or what?”(Later Stuart would tell me that whenever she spoke -- though she was in the backseat -- he could smell the alcohol on her breath.)

Thanks to an interagency agreement, troopers can process DUI arrests at the University of Washington Police Department. Stuart escorts the woman into the Lake Union facility and toward a back room, where he matter-of-factly explains the reasons for her arrest and the options she has at this point in the process.

The woman, who is obviously educated, repeatedly whines, “But what does it mean?” and, “Am I in trouble?”

After the second go-round of explanations, Stuart sits on a desk, tips his trooper's hat back, and patiently, yet pointedly, lays down the law.

“Listen, you gotta work with me here,” he says firmly. “You’re an intelligent woman.”

After finally acknowledging the seriousness of the situation, the woman is read her rights. She signs the agreement allowing Stuart to ask questions and administer the official breathalyzer test.

Bottom line: It was 1:10 a.m. The woman was driving from downtown Seattle to Shoreline, without headlights, and with an alcohol level twice the legal limit.

On this single December night, she was one of 65 drivers county-wide who felt the long arm of the Washington State Patrol.

So in this holiday season -- and throughout the coming year -- remember this:

Trooper Josh Stuart and his law-enforcement counterparts are out there. So drive safely, for safety’s sake.