NEARLY 100 DUI ARRESTS DURING 2011 HOLIDAY SEASON IN SANTA BARBARA COUNTY

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY - DECEMBER 30th, 2011

Agencies in the Santa Barbara County are up-staffing DUI enforcement for the New Year’s Weekend.  98 people have already been arrested for suspicion of driving while impaired throughout the county. 

Along with various DUI saturation patrols throughout the county, two DUI/ driver’s license checkpoint will be conducted on Friday, December 30th in the City of Santa Barbara from  8:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m.  One of the checkpoints will be staffed through ‘AVOID the 12’, while the second will be staffed by the Santa Barbara PD.

Santa Maria PD is conducting another DUI/driver’s license checkpoint for Saturday, December 31st in the City of Santa Maria.

As with most holiday weekends, CHP will be providing additional officers on the highways to further enhance the DUI enforcement.

The checkpoints provide a two-fold result.  They provide another opportunity to get impaired drivers off of the road and it allows us to further educate drivers of the dangers of driving while impaired.  Officers and deputies will be at the checkpoints looking for signs of impairment and confirming that each driver has a valid driver’s license.  The delay in traffic will be kept at a minimum.

Funding for these programs come from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration.