CHP holiday crackdown runs through weekend

A Thanksgiving holiday weekend campaign will get underway Wednesday night, targeting drunken and drug-impaired drivers and other motorists breaking the law.

The California Highway Patrol will initiate its annual Thanksgiving “maximum enforcement period” beginning at 6 p.m., when all available officers will deploy to catch drunks, speeders and other traffic violators. The effort
will continue until Sunday night.

During last year’s campaign, the CHP arrested more than 1,000 people statewide for DUI. Thirty-five people died in collisions throughout California over the four-day holiday weekend in 2015, compared to 45 during the same period in 2014.

About 40 percent of those killed in CHP jurisdictions last year were not wearing safety belts, according to the agency.

“Buckling up is simple and the most important safety measure you can take to protect yourself in a collision,” CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow said.

Officers from the Riverside, Beaumont, Indio and Temecula CHP stations will be on Inland Empire freeways, highways and unincorporated roads, looking to catch offenders.

The MEP will coincide with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s “Buckle Up America — Every Trip, Every Time” campaign, emphasizing seatbelt safety.