CHP Shares Holiday Maximum Enforcement Period Alert
Sonora, CA — Drive safe and don’t get too merry with alcoholic spirits say CHP officials, who note a long holiday Maximum Enforcement Period runs nearly four days straight.
CHP Sonora Unit spokesperson Officer Paul Mote shares that the holiday MEP begins Friday at 6 p.m. and continues through Tuesday Christmas Day Night at midnight. “We will be looking for intoxicated drivers, reckless drivers, distracted drivers — all of the usual stuff,” he says dryly.
According to CHP statistics, 16 people died in collisions within the CHP’s jurisdiction during the 2017 Christmas MEP and there were 27 statewide. Of the 12 vehicle occupants that the CHP reported as fatalities, half were not wearing a seat belt. Additionally, it logged three pedestrian deaths and one motorcyclist mortality.
Over last year’s Christmas MEP, the CHP made 917 arrests for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Officials stress that impaired driving, whether by alcohol, illegal — or legal — drugs can result in a DUI arrest and to call 911 when reporting impaired drivers when you can do so safely.
