DUI Saturation Patrols In Milpitas Tonight, Saturday

MILPITAS, CA — Milpitas Police are conducting saturation patrols Friday and Saturday nights targeting impaired drivers.

According to Milpitas Police Sgt. Sean Heneghan, "Cinco de Mayo has become a deadly holiday due to drunk and drugged driving. Forty (40) people were killed in impaired driving crashes across the nation during the Cinco de Mayo holiday period in 2015."

The DUI Saturation Patrols will will run from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. both nights, in areas with high frequencies of DUI collisions and/or arrests.

High Visibility Enforcement using both DUI checkpoints and DUI Saturation Patrols has proven to lower the number of persons 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 conducted routinely.

Over the course of the past three years, officers in Milpitas have investigated 115 DUI collisions, which have claimed one life and resulted in another 43 injuries.

The Milpitas Police Department supports the new effort from the Office of Traffic Safety that aims to educate all drivers that “DUI Doesn’t Just Mean Booze.” If you take prescription drugs, particularly those with a driving or operating machinery warning on the label, you might be impaired enough to get a DUI. Marijuana can also be impairing, especially in combination with alcohol or other drugs, and can result in a DUI.

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 even a tab for the non-DD to call Uber, Lyft or Curb.

Funding for this DUI operation is provided to the Milpitas Police Department by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

-Image via Milpitas Police