Crime & Safety

Memorial Day Weekend DUI Crackdown Begins Friday Evening

Maximum enforcement period begins at 6 p.m. Friday May 24 and ends at midnight Monday, May 27.

by Sheila Sanchez

The Santa Clara County Avoid the 13 DUI Task Force has announced it will begin its annual Memorial Day weekend anti drinking and driving crackdown at 6 p.m. Friday evening, May 24 until midnight Monday, May 27.

The effort will deploy law enforcement officers during the three-day holiday weekend, May 25-27 to special DUI/driver's license checkpoints and saturation patrols countywide, the campaign announced in a press release.

Special DUI saturation patrols will be deployed in Campbell, Cupertino, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Gilroy, Morgan Hill, Saratoga, unincorporated San Jose and San Jose State University Police jurisdictions, and Sunnyvale, the task force said in the release.

DUI/driver's license checkpoints will be conducted 7 p.m.-2 a.m. Saturday, May 25 in Milpitas and Gilroy and a multi-agency sobriety checkpoint is also planned 7 p.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, May 25 in Milpitas, within city limits, according to the release.

Also, Santa Clara County sheriff’s deputies will staff extra DUI units in Cupertino, Los Altos Hills, Saratoga and unincorporated areas of San Jose, the release added.

The California Highway Patrol will also participate in the campaign saturating local highways and unincorporated roads such as 17, 9, 35, 84, 92, 101, 280 and others.

Law enforcement advised the public to take the following precautions to avoid a DUI ticket, or an accident:

  • Plan ahead. Arrange rides home for your friends, family, co-workers and yourself before the drinking begins.
  • Those hosting celebrations and servers must limit drinks to your guests or patrons. Don’t serve more than one or two over several hours.
  • Identify and provide free non-alcoholic drinks to the Designated Sober Driver. For tasty drink recipes, visit theDDrink Mixology Center at www.facebook.com/CaliforniaOTS.
  • Cut back on the amount of drinks you plan to bring to the party – and provide plenty of food.
  • If you see dangerous driving, report drunk drivers by calling 911

Funding for the Avoid DUI Task Force is by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The Avoid Task Force will deploy checkpoints and DUI patrols next during the Independence Day Holiday and for the summer August/Labor Day DUI mobilization.  


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