The Gilroy Police Department is teaming up with other Bay Area
and local law enforcement agencies in a heightened campaign against
drunk driving.
The Gilroy Police Department is teaming up with other Bay Area and local law enforcement agencies in a heightened campaign against drunk driving.
Since Friday, police have been targeting and pulling over people with blood alcohol levels of .08 or higher. The stepped-up enforcement will last through Sept. 7 – Labor Day.
In 2008, more than 11,700 people died in highway crashes involving a drunk driver or motorcyclist, according to police. In California, 1,029 people died in alcohol-related crashes – a 9 percent reduction from 2007.
The crackdown is organized by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and focuses on combining high-visibility enforcement with heightened public awareness through advertising and publicity. The program, which spent $13 million in advertising nationally, is funded trough the California Office of Traffic Safety.
Gilroy will have a checkpoint set up Sept. 4 through 6, and various agencies in the South Bay will have checkpoints up starting Friday. The majority of the checkpoints and roving cars will be operating Labor Day weekend.
