Deputies to Go After Intoxicated Drivers in Dana Point

Submitted by the Orange County Sheriff's Department

Orange County Sheriff's deputies will be on the prowl in South Orange County neighborhoods looking for inebriated drivers today and Saturday.

DUI Saturation Patrols will deploy on Friday, March 4th at 7:00 p.m. and continue until Saturday, March 5th at 3:00 a.m. in the cities of San Juan Capistrano, San Clemente and Dana Point.

“This is a ‘Zero Tolerance’ crackdown so Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over!” said Deputy Manuel Cruz from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department Traffic Bureau.

After falling dramatically for five straight years, figures for 2012 show an increase to 802 deaths because someone failed to designate a sober driver. Over the course of the past three years, DUI collisions in areas contracted by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department have claimed 21 lives and resulted in 497 injuries of our friends and neighbors.

DUI can impact the economy in addition to the pain and suffering of those immediately affected. Conservatively, a fatality has a $1.4 million impact, an injury $70,000 and a crash that only damages property, averages nearly $9,000.

Funding for this program is from a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Report Drunk Drivers, Call 911!