Tag: drunk driving

A 28-year-old Hollister man died in an accident Sunday afternoon on Highway 101 north of East Dunne Avenue, and the California Highway Patrol suspects alcohol was a factor.

Law enforcement’s annual end-of-summer DUI crackdown resulted in 309 arrests throughout Santa Clara County, according to authorities.The arrests, all on suspicion of driving under the influence, were reported by sheriff’s office and police departments from Aug. 16 to the end of Labor Day, Sept. 2, according to Sheriff’s Sgt. Kurtis Stenderup. Some agencies had not yet reported their total DUI arrests for the period as of Wednesday morning. In 2012 during the same time period, local law enforcement agencies reported 390 arrests on suspicion of DUI, Stenderup said. The arrests were part of the annual “Avoid the 13” DUI crackdown, in which police place extra officers and resources on the roads during holiday weekends and other expected high-traffic times. The effort includes sobriety checkpoints, saturation patrols and routine patrol by 13 law enforcement agencies throughout the County. Avoid the 13 is funded by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Police are planning more Avoid the 13 anti-DUI efforts during the upcoming Halloween and Thanksgiving holidays, Stenderup said. 

Morgan Hill police will conduct a DUI and drivers license checkpoint Friday, July 19 at an undisclosed location inside the city limits.

Police throughout Santa Clara County reported Sunday they arrested 95 drunken driving suspects on the roads during Independence Day and the post-holiday weekend. Officers from 13 law enforcement agencies throughout the county made the arrests between Wednesday and Sunday night as part of the annual “Avoid the 13” holiday DUI crackdown, according to Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Deputy Kurtis Stenderup. With the use of grant funds from the state and federal government, county police agencies during the DUI campaign use saturation patrols and DUI checkpoints during holiday weekends and other times when a higher-than-usual volume of motorists are on the roads, according to police. Funding for the Avoid the 13 campaign is provided by the California Office of Traffic Safety and the National Highway Traffic Administration, police said. Anyone may call 911 to report suspected impaired motorists. 

As party-goers celebrate Cinco de Mayo with mariachi music and authentic cuisine this weekend, many will also indulge with their favorite margarita or tequila, then choose to get behind the wheel and drive to their next destination. That’s why this year the Santa Clara County Avoid the 13 DUI Task Force is joining with others across the state and nation to encourage everyone to plan ahead this Cinco de Mayo and not drink and drive, according to a press release from the Sheriff’s office.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving and area law enforcement agencies this week recognized three of Morgan Hill’s finest for their efforts to remove drunk drivers from the streets, and one of the local officers made more DUI arrests last year than any other officer on the Peninsula.

Holiday revelers who plan to imbibe alcoholic beverages should make plans that don’t include driving, because police will be cracking down on impaired driving. 

Motorists will continue to see saturated police presence on the roads during holidays, as well as the occasional DUI checkpoints over the next year or so now that the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office received a grant for $180,000 from the California Office of Traffic Safety.

Morgan Hill Police arrests through Oct. 17.

The Gilroy Police Department plans to conduct a DUI a driver's license checkpoint between the hours of 9 p.m. and 2:30 a.m. on August 3 at an undisclosed location within the city.