Gilroy
– Holiday parties will be in full swing this weekend, and so
will local law enforcement’s annual sober driving campaign.
The Gilroy Police Department and California Highway Patrol,
which both participate in Santa Clara County’s
”
Avoid the 13
”
campaign, will conduct a sobriety checkpoint Friday.
By Lori Stuenkel
Gilroy – Holiday parties will be in full swing this weekend, and so will local law enforcement’s annual sober driving campaign.
The Gilroy Police Department and California Highway Patrol, which both participate in Santa Clara County’s “Avoid the 13” campaign, will conduct a sobriety checkpoint Friday. The Morgan Hill Police Department, another Avoid the 13 agency, will hold a checkpoint with the CHP Saturday.
From Friday through Jan. 2, all agencies will be dedicating more officers to patrol, and issue tickets to suspected drunken drivers.
“We are specifically targeting, watching out for the drunk drivers,” GPD Cpl. Detective Rosa Quinones said. “It’s also to educate the public.”
Friday’s checkpoint in Gilroy will be located on Monterey Road from 10pm to 2am. Drivers will be diverted and stopped for a few minutes while an officer explains the purpose of the checkpoint and looks for signs of intoxication. Officers also will hand out Avoid the 13 fliers, containing information on the “Designate or Incarcerate” campaign. Saturday’s checkpoint in Morgan Hill also will be located on Monterey Road, south of John Wilson Way, from 9pm until 1am. Morgan Hill’s checkpoint is funded by a grant from the state Office of Traffic Safety. Agencies throughout the state received part of the $4.7 million dedicated to prevent drunken driving.
“Every year, citizens of our community are needlessly maimed and killed by impaired drivers,” said Capt. Bob Davies, commander of the Gilroy/Hollister CHP. “Our goal is to ensure safe passage of motorists by targeting roadways where there is a high incidence of driving under the influence.”
Holding a sobriety checkpoint is aimed more at reducing the number of drunken drivers on the road, rather than increasing arrests.
Last year was the fifth consecutive year of increases in alcohol-related fatalities, after more than a decade of decline in California: 1,445 people were killed and 31,337 people injured.
“Before you start drinking, designate a driver,” Quinones said. “Designate someone who’s going to take you home because once you start drinking, you lose that common sense.
“And like the Avoid the 13 posters say: Our designated drivers will take you to jail.”
Someone died in an alcohol-related crash every half hour in 2003 in the U.S., based on statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
There were no drunken driving-related deaths in the Gilroy area last year, but drunken drivers caused at least four crashes.
The GPD arrested 19 people for driving under the influence around the holidays in 2003, and the CHP arrested 39 in South County.
“We have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to drunk driving,” Quinones said. “If you’re stopped and you’ve been drinking, you’re going to be arrested.”
The state’s zero tolerance law means that if someone under the legal drinking age of 21 has a blood alcohol content of .01 or greater, they immediately lose their license for one year, says the CHP. An adult convicted DUI offender will have his or her license revoked or suspended for anywhere from 30 days to one year, or up to three years with prior offenses. People convicted of DUI also are likely to be placed on probation or serve jail time, have their car towed and impounded, spend time in treatment programs and perform required community service. The process can end up costing thousands of dollars.
The average adult takes about an hour to get over the effects of one drink, so two drinks in one hour will often put a person over the legal limit of .08 percent blood alcohol content. A standard drink is defined as a 12-ounce beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof liquor, all of which contain the same amount of alcohol.
California has the second-highest alcohol-related fatalities, behind Texas. This state’s 1,445 alcohol-related fatalities accounted for more than 34 percent of all traffic fatalities in 2003, according to statistics from the CHP and the state Attorney General’s Criminal Justice Statistics Center. DUI arrests increased by 3.5 percent last year.
Nationwide, drunken driving fatalities decreased almost 3 percent from 2002 to 2003. California saw a 2.4 percent increase, according to the NHTSA.
Drunken driving dangers
13 were arrested by Gilroy police last holiday season
39 were arrested by California Highway Patrol
Alcohol-related crashes
in 2003:
– Killed 1,445 Californians
– Killed 34 Santa Clara County residents
– Injured 31,337 Californians
Need a lift?
Get a ride:
– Bracco’s Towing and Transport offers free rides from Dec. 17 through Jan. 2; 847-5766
Taxis:
– Golden Taxi 846-6666
– South Valley Cab 776-3234 or (888) 550-2555
– Union Taxi Co. 846-9927
– Yellow Cab 842-6333
