No one was killed by a drunk driver in Santa Clara County during
the Labor Day Weekend holiday this year, but officers participating
in the Avoid the 13 campaign to crack down on impaired drivers
arrested 125 suspects for allegedly driving under the
influence.
Morgan Hill – No one was killed by a drunk driver in Santa Clara County during the Labor Day Weekend holiday this year, but officers participating in the Avoid the 13 campaign to crack down on impaired drivers arrested 125 suspects for allegedly driving under the influence.
The four-day holiday period is notorious for deadly alcohol-related crashes, as people travel and celebrate the so-called last weekend of summer.
This year’s arrest total is 42 percent higher than the county’s 88 arrests during the same period last year.
The crackdown began the first minute of Friday and ended at midnight on Monday.
Morgan Hill officers arrested 12 drivers on suspicion of driving under the influence, and three drivers with outstanding warrants for DUI. Traffic officer Steve Pennington made eight of the 12 arrests during the holiday weekend.
According to the California Highway Patrol, 81 percent of the 49 people killed in accidents during the Labor Day period were not wearing seat belts or were not properly restrained in car seats.
“This is just flat unacceptable,” said CHP Commissioner Mike Brown, who patrolled Interstate 5 from Woodland to San Diego during the holiday weekend. “It takes less than a second to literally make the difference between life and death.”
Last year, 46 people were killed on California roadways during the Labor Day weekend.
The latest federal survey says that 94.3 Californians wear seat belts.
In the CHP coastal division, which includes Morgan Hill, San Martin, Gilroy, Hollister and several other cities to the southwest, there was only one fatal accident and person killed during the holiday weekend. Last year during the same time, there were two fatal collisions resulting in three deaths.
The Avoid the 13 is sponsored by the Santa Clara County Police Chiefs Association and funded by the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
