Coachella Valley end of year anti-DUI campaign wraps up

A roughly two-week-long crackdown on drunken and drug- impaired drivers in Riverside County will conclude tonight.
As of Thursday, 466 people had been arrested in the Avoid the 30 task force’s anti-DUI campaign, which began Dec. 14. The task force, named for the number of participating law enforcement agencies, will wrap up operations at 11:59 p.m.
During last year’s end-of-year crackdown, 682 people were arrested on suspicion of DUI.
Today, agencies countywide will be staffing sobriety checkpoints and conducting saturation patrols to nab New Year’s revelers who drink and drive.
This year’s Avoid effort was part of the multi-state “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign, sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The task force received a federal grant earlier this year in support of operations.
In 2010, 59 people died in alcohol-related crashes in Riverside County. Just under 800 were killed statewide, and 10,000 DUI-related deaths were reported throughout the country that year, according to statistics.
Additional crackdowns are planned on Super Bowl weekend, St. Patrick’s Day and on Memorial Day weekend.