While Memorial Day is set apart as a day for remembrance and honor of those who have served in the military, it is also a weekend to mark the beginning of summer. Due to the three-day weekend because of the holiday, many people travel to destination points, such as the beach or local lakes. With so many people on the road, however, Memorial Day Weekend has been widely known for the amount of DUIs given and arrests made each year.

The Memorial Day Weekend Avoid the 12 – DUI Campaign concluded with the deployment of three Sobriety Checkpoint, special DUI Saturation Patrols throughout Stanislaus County and officers on routine patrol focusing special attention towards the impaired driver working to lower deaths/injuries on the streets and highways.

From 12:01am Friday, May 25th through midnight on Monday, May 28th, officers representing 12 county law enforcement agencies have arrested 27 individuals driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. This is significantly less than last year, which saw 65 DUI arrests during the same holiday weekend.

Law enforcement officials will be conducting more Avoid Anti-DUI efforts throughout the county and region during the July 4th Independence Day holiday period and the 18 day campaign in August ending Labor Day weekend.

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

Although this Memorial Day Weekend saw significantly less DUI arrests than 2011, the Police Department, Sheriff and California Highway Patrol encourage all motorists to watch and report impaired drivers every trip, especially during summer vacations.

AVOID programs, named for the number of police agencies in each county, will be conducting other enforcement efforts during special events with identified DUI problems..
Please visit the AVOID website at www.californiaavoid.org for more information about anti DUI efforts in your community and around the state.