Police Step Up Anti-Drunk Driving Effort

PRESS RELEASE: Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office

If you drink and drive in Contra Costa County, beware, the Avoid the 25 anti-DUI task force has joined with law enforcement throughout the state for the “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign, running now to September 3, 2012.

DUI/driver’s license checkpoints, multi-agency anti-DUI task force deployments and local roving anti-DUI patrols are scheduled locally in partnership with law enforcement nationwide during the Summer/Labor Day Campaign.

Checkpoints are scheduled for August 24 (Walnut Creek) and August 25 (Concord and Lafayette). CHP will deploy all available officers during the Labor Day holiday weekend onto freeways and county roads.

In 2010 alone, 791 people died in California in crashes in which a driver or motorcycle rider was at or above the legal limit. The age group with the highest percentage of alcohol impaired-diving fatalities in motor vehicle traffic crashes was the 21-to-24 age group.

"On average there is one alcohol impaired driving-related fatality every 51 minutes across America. But this tragic loss of life can be reduced if we get impaired drivers off our roadways,” said Captain Elise Warren of the Contra
Costa County Office of the Sheriff. “Research has shown that high-visibility enforcement like the 'Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over' campaign reduces alcohol-impaired driving fatalities by as much as 20 percent. By joining this statewide wide effort, we will make Contra Costa’s roadways safer for everyone.”

Violators will face jail time, loss of their driver licenses, or being sentenced to use ignition interlocks. Their insurance rates go up. Other financial hits include attorney fees, court costs, lost time at work, and the potential loss of job or job prospects, police said.

The national Driver Sober or Get Pulled Over crackdown is led by the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS), with the California Avoid anti-DUI task force campaign combining high-visibility enforcement and heightened public awareness and impaired driving deterrence through publicity. The program is funded by the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which reminds everyone to Report Drunk Driving by dialing 9-1-1!