CHP’s Christmastime enforcement campaign to start Tuesday night

Drive safe and sober during the upcoming Christmas holiday, or face consequences, the California Highway Patrol warned today.   

The agency will initiate its annual Christmastime "maximum enforcement period'' at 6 p.m. Tuesday, when all available officers will deploy to catch drunken or drug-impaired drivers, speeders and other scofflaws.

The MEP will conclude on Wednesday night, lasting about 30 hours.   

"This time of year is about celebrating with family and friends, but it's also a time when traffic incidents increase due to poor driving decisions,'' CHP Commissioner Sean Duryee said. "Each of us has a role in
making California's roads safer. Let's work together to keep this Holiday Season free of tragedy.''  

During last year's Christmas MEP, CHP officers statewide arrested just over 900 motorists on suspicion of driving under the influence, compared to 639 the year before. The 2023 campaign spanned a full three days and nights because Christmas fell on a Monday. Midweek enforcement campaigns are always shorter.   

According to the agency, 20 people died in crashes within the CHP's jurisdiction during Christmas weekend 2023.   

Officers from the Riverside, Blythe, Beaumont, Indio and Temecula CHP stations will be on inland freeways, highways and unincorporated roads, looking to snare traffic violators.

The Riverside County Sheriff's Department, along with multiple municipal agencies countywide, are currently conducting their own operations, staffing sobriety checkpoints and deploying targeted patrols as part of a year-end enforcement mobilization.

Another MEP is slated for New Year's Eve.