CHP: Designate a Sober Driver for Superbowl Sunday

Officer Miguel Duarte, public information officer for the Moorpark Area office of the California Highway Patrol shares the following message regarding Super Bowl Sunday driving safety:

An impaired driver is among the biggest threat on the roadway.  Motorists in Ventura County and Los Angeles County know this far too well as it ranks as the number one location in California for alcohol-involved collisions year after year.

To help remove the threat before more lives are destroyed, the California Highway Patrol’s (CHP) Moorpark Area and West Valley Area offices will use a federal grant to conduct a Driving Under the Influence (DUI) corridor along a 38.6-mile segment of United States (US) 101 between Ventura County and Los Angeles County.

“Overall, the number of alcohol-related collisions has been going down in California,” said CHP  Lt. April Baxter, commander of the Moorpark Area office.  “Our goal is to find an effective way to keep up the momentum and remove impaired drivers before they destroy any more lives.”

According to the CHP’s Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System, during the course of three, 10-month periods (December 1, 2007, and September 30, 2010), an average of five people were killed and 120 others were injured each period in alcohol-involved collisions along this stretch of US-101.

Beginning December 1, 2012, CHP officers will conduct stepped up DUI enforcement along US-101 throughout the 10-month campaign.  This traffic safety effort will also include a task force and public awareness campaign by the CHP to help reinforce the anti-DUI message.

Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.