Law enforcement agencies throughout Riverside County will be ramping up patrols to nab drunken or drug-impaired drivers during the upcoming holiday weekend.
(Flickr: Tobo)
The Avoid the 30 campaign — named for the number of area police agencies involved — will conduct saturation patrols and sobriety checkpoints from Friday night through Monday night.
The effort will coincide with the California Highway Patrol’s Memorial Day weekend “Maximum Enforcement Period,” during which 80 percent of the agency’s officers are deployed to crack down on intoxicated motorists, speeders and other violators.
During last year’s Avoid campaign, 191 people were arrested on suspicion of drunken or drug-impaired driving in Riverside County, compared to 161 arrests the year before.
Later this week, agencies will be announcing in which cities driver’s license checkpoints and concentrated patrols are planned.
The Avoid and CHP anti-DUI campaigns will conclude at midnight Tuesday.
However, a statewide “Click It or Ticket” effort that got under way today will continue through June 3.
“California has the highest seat belt compliance percentage in the nation — 96 percent,” said Riverside police Sgt. Skip Showalter. “We’re trying to keep it that way or even improve it.”
A ticket for a first-time seat belt violation is $142.
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