Morgan Hill residents celebrated the holidays this year with no
drunken-driving related injury accidents or fatalities during this
year
’s Avoid the 13 campaign. There were, however, arrests for
driving under the influence, or DUI.
Morgan Hill residents celebrated the holidays this year with no drunken-driving related injury accidents or fatalities during this year’s Avoid the 13 campaign. There were, however, arrests for driving under the influence, or DUI.
The campaign covers the holiday period from Dec. 12 to Jan 2.
Lt. Joe Sampson said Monday that the department had made 38 DUI arrests.
The total for the 2001-2002 campaign was 42; last year, the total was 36.
The California Highway Patrol made 39 DUI arrests in south Santa Clara County more than its 34 last year and 33 the year before.
The Gilroy Police Department made 19 arrests for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs from Dec. 12 through Jan. 2, two less than the 21 DUI arrests made during last year’s campaign.
During the first year of Avoid the 13, in 1973, there were 13 fatal DUI accidents in the county, according to Vic Heman, the Avoid the 13 coordinator with the California Office of Traffic Safety.
Of this year’s 39 CHP DUIs, four involved car crashes, and one person was injured in one of these. Countywide, there were 79 DUI-related collisions, 26 resulting in injury. There were no fatal accidents involing a drunken driver during the holiday period.
The Avoid the 13 campaign started with 13 area agencies concentrating their efforts on preventing drunk driving during the holiday period, a time typically associated with more accidents due to an increase in parties and celebrations. The number of agencies participating grew, and this year there were 16 involved, from the Palo Alto Police Department down to the Gilroy Police Department.
The campaign, which is funded by a grand from the California Office of Traffic Safety, uses mobile “strike teams” as well as sobriety checkpoints to remove drunk drivers from the road, as well as discouraging them from driving in the first place.
The MHPD had an extra patrol car out in the evenings and on weekends, specifically targeting DUIs, Sampson said. There was also a sobriety checkpoint on Monterey Road at Old Monterey Road on Dec. 20.
“That was very successful,” he said Monday. “We even had comments from the public that the officers were friendly and professional, and praise that they were out there during a wet time of the year. Of course, the wet roads increased the risk of accidents while driving impaired.”
Sampson said he believes the program brings positive results.
“I am thankful that we were able to participate and that we had no injuries or fatalities as a result of drunk driving,” he said. “We like to think that the message is getting out there in terms of public information.
“I think people are cognizant of the issues surrounding drinking and driving. Any time the numbers (of DUIs and accidents) go down, we like to think the public is hearing the message and responding accordingly.”
On average, a Californian convicted of non-accident DUI pays $3,000 in various fines and fees and loses his or her drivers license for a year. The legal blood alcohol limit in the state is .08, which is less than three 12-ounce beers in two hours for a 160-pound male, according to the state.
Staff Writer Peter Crowley contributed to this article.
