By Peter Crowley and Marilyn Dubil
GILROY
– Area police departments will be out in force tonight, looking
out to arrest drunk drivers before those drivers get a chance to
crash and perhaps hurt or kill someone.
By Peter Crowley and Marilyn Dubil
GILROY – Area police departments will be out in force tonight, looking out to arrest drunk drivers before those drivers get a chance to crash and perhaps hurt or kill someone.
“New Year’s Eve particularly is a time when people really, really like to celebrate,” Morgan Hill police Lt. Joe Sampson said Tuesday. “It’s traditional to go out and party. There are a lot of venues (that serve alcohol): restaurants, bars, hotels and organized parties. Designated drivers are a good idea, but we also strongly suggest that if you are at a location and if you’ve been drinking, stay where you are. Book a room ahead of time if you plan to be out.”
In the 18 days from Dec. 12 to Tuesday morning, Gilroy police have arrested 21 people for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. In the same period of time, 766 people have been arrested for DUI throughout Santa Clara County. That’s slightly more than at this time last year.
The DUI crackdown is part of the countywide Avoid the 13 campaign, a holiday tradition so named because of the number of law-enforcement agencies that originally participated. This year, 16 police forces are making extra efforts to patrol the roads for drunk drivers from mid-December until Jan. 2.
Of those 766 countywide DUI arrests, 93 cases involved vehicle crashes, and people were injured in 23 of those. There have been no fatal drunk-driving crashes reported thus far in the campaign.
The Avoid the 13 campaign uses mobile strike teams and sobriety checkpoints to discourage drunken driving and to take drunken drivers off the road. It is funded by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency.
