DUI Patrols This Weekend In South Orange County

LAGUNA NIGUEL, CA - Deputies from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department’s DUI Enforcement Team will be deploying this weekend to stop and arrest alcohol and drug-impaired drivers in the Department’s ongoing traffic safety campaign.

DUI Saturation Patrols will deploy from 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 17, through 3 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 18, in areas with high frequencies of DUI collisions and/or arrests in the cities of Laguna Niguel and Laguna Hills.

High Visibility Enforcement using both DUI checkpoints and DUI Saturation Patrols has proven to lower the number of people killed and injured in alcohol- or drug-impaired crashes. Research shows that crashes involving an impaired driver can be reduced by up to 20 percent when well-publicized, proactive DUI operations are routinely conducted.

In California, alcohol-involved collisions led to 1,155 deaths and nearly 24,000 injuries in 2014 because someone failed to designate a sober driver. Over the last three years, deputies have investigated 149 DUI collisions that have claimed 10 lives and resulted in another 45 injuries.

Officers will be looking for signs of alcohol and/or drug impairment. When possible, specially trained officers will be available to evaluate those suspected of drug-impaired driving, which now accounts for a growing number of impaired driving crashes.

Studies of California drivers have shown that 30 percent of drivers in fatal crashes had one or more drugs in their systems. A study of active drivers showed more tested positive for drugs that may impair driving (14 percent) than did for alcohol (7.3 percent). Of the drugs, marijuana was most prevalent, at 7.4 percent, slightly more than alcohol. Everyone should be mindful that if you’re taking medication – whether prescription or over-the-counter – drinking even small amounts of alcohol can greatly intensify the impairment effects.

Drivers are encouraged to download the Designated Driver VIP, or “DDVIP,” free mobile app for Android or iPhone. The DDVIP app helps find nearby bars and restaurants that feature free incentives for the designated sober driver, from free non-alcoholic drinks to free appetizers and more. The feature-packed app even has social media tie-ins and a tab for the non-DD to call Uber, Lyft or Curb.

The cost of a ride home is cheap. Those caught driving impaired can expect the impact of a DUI arrest to include jail time, fines, fees, DUI classes, license suspensions and other expenses that can exceed $10,000, not to mention the embarrassment when friends and family find out.

Funding for this DUI operation is provided to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, reminding everyone to ‘Report Drunk Driver – Call 9-1-1.’

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