CHP’s Christmas crackdown begins Friday
Spend the Christmas holiday weekend driving sober and safe, or there could be consequences, the California Highway Patrol warned today.
The CHP’s annual Christmas “maximum enforcement period” will get underway at 6 p.m. Friday and continue until Tuesday night. All available officers will deploy during the MEP to catch drunken drivers, speeders and other traffic violators.
During last year’s Christmastime enforcement campaign, the CHP arrested 917 people statewide for DUI, compared to 621 arrests the year before.
“The California Highway Patrol wishes everyone a happy and, most importantly, safe holiday season,” CHP Commissioner Warren Stanley said. “Please remember to drive sober, avoid distractions, always buckle up, leave plenty of time to reach your destination, and consider the possibility of inclement weather.”
A total 16 people died in collisions on roads and highways under the CHP’s jurisdiction during the 2017 Christmas holiday weekend, according to the agency, adding that six of those killed were not wearing seat belts.
Officers from the Riverside, Beaumont, Blythe, Indio and Temecula CHP stations will be on freeways, highways and unincorporated roads in Riverside County, looking to snare scofflaws during the four-day MEP.
The campaign will coincide with end-of-year holiday enforcement campaigns now underway in jurisdictions handled by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, as well as multiple municipal police agencies, which are using saturation patrols and sobriety checkpoints to apprehend drunken and drug-impaired drivers.
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