While allegedly drunken drivers kept police throughout Santa Clara County busy over the Memorial Day weekend, overall arrests for driving under the influence are vastly down from the same period last year.
From midnight Friday to midnight Sunday, law enforcement agencies reported arrested 38 people on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, according to Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Sgt. Jose Cardoza.
During the same three-day enhanced DUI enforcement period in 2011, 104 DUI suspects were arrested, Cardoza added.
Furthermore, now DUI-related deaths or injuries resulting from auto collisions have been reported during the three-day weekend in Santa Clara County, authorities said.
Officers continued the heightened enforcement effort throughout the day Monday as well, though arrest numbers for that day were not available at press time.
The enhanced enforcement efforts are part of the “Avoid the 13” campaign, a grant-funded campaign to put extra officers on the roads during holiday periods when impaired driving spikes.
CHP Areas throughout the state placed all available officers patrolling freeways and county roads throughout the weekend, Cardoza said. Extra DUI “saturation patrols” were deployed in the cities of San Jose, Milpitas, Cupertino, Saratoga, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, and Gilroy.
The efforts are funded by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Cardoza added.
