If you're out and about this New Year's Eve, your chances of being stopped by police officers and administered a field sobriety test or breathalyzer test are much higher than any other time of the year. The number of official sobriety checkpoints and patrols increase sharply this time of the year. Throughout the holidays, you can expect to see DUI patrols across many California cities, looking for intoxicated motorists. The number of DUI arrests, in fact, is already up and counting.
The number of arrests being reported from across several cities and counties are already coming in, and the numbers are quite high.In some cases, numbers are higher than last year. In just six days over last week in Stockton alone, for instance, DUI patrols managed to arrest 36 drivers for driving under the influence of alcohol. That was an increase of 100% from the number of arrests at the same time in 2012. In Ventura County, the number of DUI arrests so far this holiday season, is already up from the same period last year. So far, more than 146 people have been arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol from December 13 through December 22.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration strongly supports DUI checkpoints as an effective deterrent to drunk driving.In California, state law enforcement personnel have already launched a massive 20-day holiday DUI campaign that is focused specifically on DUI as well as driver’s license checkpoints, multiagency task force operations and local patrols. The California Office of Traffic Safety uses funds from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administrationon these campaigns every year. The final toll of arrests this year will only be released in early 2014.
