Crime & Safety

July 4 Weekend: BBQ, Beer, and DUI Patrols

Extra drunken driving enforcement units will be out there, amid the fireworks and weekend picnicking.

This weekend might be a good time to declare independence from too much alcohol. As you're preparing for your Independence Day weekend, local law enforcement will be, too.

The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office Headquarters announced the "Avoid the 13" DUI Taskforce's campaign against drunken driving will begin Friday and last through early Tuesday morning.

In particular, Milpitas, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Santa Clara, San Jose and the California Highway Patrol will be adding extra officers to patrol for potential DUI incidents, said Sgt. Rick Sung, a spokesman for the Sheriff's Department. Funds from the Avoid the 13 grant program pay for overtime units.

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The Sheriff's Department, which provides service to Los Altos Hills, Cupertino, and Saratoga, will deploy additional units all four days of the weekend, and cover the unincorporated areas of the county.

All other departments in the area may be maintaining regular staffing this weekend, but they will pay special attention to drivers while on patrol, Sung added.

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Last year, the program recorded 94 DUI arrests over the four-day enforcement period, which starts on Friday and ends late Monday night or early Tuesday mornings, Sung said.

Summer holidays are statistically some of the deadliest times to be on the roadways, said Chris Murphy, Director of the California Office of Traffic Safety.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 410 people were killed in traffic collisions during the 2009 Fourth of July weekend across the country. Of that number, 40 percent involved drivers with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 grams per deciliter or higher.

In California, 7 were killed in DUI crashes during the Fourth of July
weekend in 2009 while another 352 were injured in alcohol involved collisions, according to the NHTSA.

Fortunately, said Sung, there were no July 4 weekend deaths in 2010 in Santa Clara County, where the Avoid the 13 campaign has been part of the holiday enforcement picture for more than a decade.

Santa Clara County law enforcement would like to keep it that way for this weekend.

“Impaired drivers not only take the risk of hurting or killing themselves or someone else, but the trauma and financial costs of an alcohol-impaired-driving crash or arrest can be significant," said Captain Frank Damiano, Headquarters Patrol Division Commander.

The Sheriff's Office urges more people to help reduce drunken driving through Stop Impaired Driving and to report suspected drunken drivers.

Here are more tips from the Sheriff's Office:

  • Plan a safe way home before the festivities begin
  • Before drinking, please designate a sober driver and give that person your keys
  • If you’re impaired, use a taxi, call a sober friend or family member, or use public transportation so you are sure to get home safely;
  • If you happen to see a drunk driver on the road, don’t hesitate: “Report Drunk Drivers, Call 9-1-1!”


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