GILROY
– Everyone has their own superstitions when it comes to Friday
the 13th, but law enforcement agencies throughout the county are
hoping to add one more this year: Never drink and drive.
GILROY – Everyone has their own superstitions when it comes to Friday the 13th, but law enforcement agencies throughout the county are hoping to add one more this year: Never drink and drive.
To back up their stance against drinking and driving, 15 Santa Clara County law enforcement agencies – including the Gilroy Police Department, County Sheriff’s offices and California Highway Patrol – will be out in full force beginning tonight to catch holiday partiers driving under the influence of alcohol.
“This is always our worst time of year for drinking and driving,” said Gilroy Police Department Capt. Scot Smithee. “You get a lot of people going to holiday parties and drinking when they might not normally.”
Using a combination of sobriety checkpoints, DUI stings, DUI warrant serving deliveries and educational events, the county’s 28th annual “Avoid the 13” campaign will begin tonight and end Jan. 2. The 13 refers to the 13 law enforcement agencies who participated in the countywide effort in during its inaugural year 1973; this year there will be 15 agencies on the prowl for drunk drivers.
During the 19 days of Avoid the 13 last year 850 DUI arrests were made in the county – 75 on Gilroy’s streets and highways. Twenty-six injury accidents attributed to alcohol were recorded during the same period, and there was one fatality, which took place in the CHP’s Gilroy jurisdiction.
Six of the county’s cities will be conducting DUI checkpoints this weekend, while Gilroy has a checkpoint planned for Dec. 20. The location has not yet been released, but it will be from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. somewhere on Leavesely or Monterey roads, according to the GPD.
“Bringing all the agencies together like this gets the message to drivers that no matter where you go in the county – on highways or surface streets – there will be extra enforcement watching you,” said Vic Heman, Avoid the 13 coordinator with the California Office of Traffic Safety.
The GPD has already began doubling its DUI patrols this week and plans to continue the effort until after the new year. The department has already authorized 20 hours of overtime to pay for the expanded patrols, Smithee said. Additional officers will closely patrol streets around bars and restaurants during the beefed up enforcement.
Wal-Mart will also host a DUI educational fair on Sunday with information on drinking and driving, alcohol counselors, a totaled car involved in a DUI accident and representatives from several area law enforcement agencies.
Brocco’s Towing and Transportation, 6730 Monterey Road, will also be offering free rides to people who have been drinking during the weeks until the new year.
“This is a time of year to celebrate family and loved ones,” Heman said. “But drinking and driving can ruin that very quickly.”
