Amid the Green Beer, Beware the Blue Line

St. Patrick's Day revelers be forewarned: The oh-so-familiar "Avoid the 13" DUI task force will be out on the roads with you Thursday. 

Describing its beefed-up rolling DUI patrols as "a counter-measure to all the 'green beer' on sale," the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department said Monday it and its law enforcement partners will deploy additional patrols throughout the county.

“Driving impaired is simply not worth the risk," said Capt. Frank Damiano, division commander of the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office Headquarters' Patrol Division. "Designate your sober driver before the party begins.” 

The St. Patrick's Day patrol campaign begins 6 p.m. Thursday and ends at 5:59 a.m. Friday.

"Driving Under the Influence," or DUI, is commonly understood to be driving under the influence of alcohol, but applies to other controlled substances. The Avoid the 13 DUI Task Force will deploy additional DUI patrols into various cities of Santa Clara County, including Mountain View, Cupertino, Saratoga, Los Altos Hills, San Jose, Santa Clara and Sunnyvale. "Avoid the 13" refers to the original 13 law enforcement agencies when the DUI campaigns were first launched several years ago.

St. Patrick’s Day, which started as Catholic holiday for Ireland's most commonly recognized saint, has been secularized over the years into a general celebration of Irish culture. The sheriff's office will disburse special grant money to pay for overtime patrols Thursday, since the likelihood that the throngs socializing in bars Thursday will be at greater risk of driving impaired than the throngs attending church.

St. Patrick's Day patrols, which started in 2009, are a relatively new addition to the Avoid the 13 campaigns, said Sgt. Rick Sung. The state Office of Traffic Safety noticed that DUI-related deaths or injuries were higher on holidays such as St. Patrick's Day and Cinco de Mayo and during major events such as the Gilroy Garolic Festival and Mushroom Festival in Morgan Hill, said Michelle Sandoval, the sheriff's grant manager.

The Avoid DUI Saturation patrols will supplement regularly scheduled shift deployments planned for Thursday. The specialized DUI officers will focus on areas with high incidents of DUI collisions and arrests.

The sheriff's department and its partners recommended the following steps for a safe St. Patrick’s Day:

• Plan a safe way home before the festivities begin. Before drinking, designate a sober driver and leave your car keys at home.
• 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 drunken driver on the road, don’t hesitate to call 911.
• If you know someone who is about to drive while impaired, take their keys and help them make other arrangements to get to where they need to go safely.