Holiday partygoers in Morgan Hill need to do a better job of
enlisting designated drivers or taking taxis, according to Morgan
Hill police Chief Bruce Cumming, as his department is third in
number of drunken driving arrests in the county-wide campaign to
keep streets safe during the holidays.
MORGAN HILL
Holiday partygoers in Morgan Hill need to do a better job of enlisting designated drivers or taking taxis, according to Morgan Hill police Chief Bruce Cumming, as his department is third in number of drunken driving arrests in the county-wide campaign to keep streets safe during the holidays.
As of Thursday morning, Morgan Hill officers had arrested 68 people on suspicion of driving under the influence. During last year’s Avoid the 13 campaign, they arrested 67 DUI suspects. At this time last year, they stood at 35.
Countywide, there have been 569 arrests since the campaign kicked off at the first minute of Dec. 14, compared with 492 last year, a 16 percent increase.
A 28-year-old Palo Alto man was killed Monday in a rollover crash, the first DUI-related death of the campaign. He was driving on Sanborn Road in the Santa Cruz mountains and was allegedly speeding and not wearing a seatbelt, according to CHP officer Todd Thibodeau. The passengers in the man’s vehicle were wearing seatbelts and survived the crash with injuries.
San Jose police lead the county with 117 arrests as of Thursday morning, while San Jose CHP is second in the county with 75 arrests.
“I am pleased that our officers are dead serious about stopping people before they kill themselves or someone else,” Cumming said. “This county has taken 569 loaded guns off the streets and highways since Avoid the 13 began on Dec. 14. We have potentially saved hundreds of lives. I am discouraged, however, that people are still making the decision to drink and drive.”
During last year’s campaign, there were four deaths and 716 arrests.
Tonight, Morgan Hill police will set up a sobriety checkpoint at Monterey Road and Old Monterey Road. Drivers will be checked between 8 p.m. and 2 a.m. to see that they have a valid driver’s license and that they are not under the influence in an effort to reduce the number of people injured or killed in collisions involving drivers who have been drinking or doing drugs.
Depending on the volume of traffic and on weather conditions, Morgan Hill police Cmdr. David Swing said, all vehicles will be stopped, and drivers who are under the influence will be arrested.
“I believe that the people we’re arresting, that’s just the tip of the iceberg,” Swing said. “I don’t think that Morgan Hill has a greater problem than other communities. Our officers are certainly proactive, they are very focused on getting dangerous drivers off of the road, but we’re not working any harder than other agencies are, everyone is giving their best efforts. We have adjusted our traffic officers schedule for DUI enforcement, as well as patrol staff enforcement and overtime, and those costs are reimbursed through the Avoid the 13 grant.”
Swing said the department hopes to educate the community about the dangers of drinking and driving during the checkpoint tonight through the presence of officers and educational literature they will hand out.
