Lake Elsinore CHP Enforcement: New Year's Weekend Through Monday: 2023

LAKE ELSINORE, CA — The end-of-year crackdown targeting drunken and drug-impaired drivers in Riverside County would run through Monday, Jan. 2, 2023, California Highway Patrol announced.

The New Year's "maximum enforcement period" weekend was slated to begin at 6 p.m. Friday when all available officers would deploy to spot and pull over impaired motorists, speeders and other traffic violators.

CHP Officers from the Riverside, Blythe, Indio, San Gorgonio Pass and Temecula stations promised to patrol Inland Empire freeways, highways and unincorporated roads, looking to identify and stop suspects.

"Every year, people's lives are impacted forever by making the decision to get behind the wheel while under the influence," CHP Commissioner Amanda Ray said. "Driving impaired is never worth it and certainly not the way to ring in the New Year. Always designate a sober driver."

The 2021-22 New Year's MEP netted 495 arrests statewide, compared to 709 arrests during the 2020-21 campaign, according to the CHP.

During the 2021-22 enforcement period, a total of 29 people died in crashes investigated by the agency.

This weekend's crackdown coincides with the year-end anti-DUI campaigns involving the Riverside County Sheriff's Department and multiple municipal law enforcement agencies countywide.

Deputies and officers have been conducting saturation patrols and staffing sobriety checkpoints to catch intoxicated drivers. Operations will conclude next week.