Full Notification

Modesto, CA - Officers from the Modesto Police Department’s DUI Enforcement Team will be deploying to stop and arrest impaired drivers in the Department’s ongoing traffic safety campaign.

Modesto Police Department will be conducting a “Zero Tolerance” DUI Saturation Patrol on March 4th targeting those who still don’t heed the message to designate a sober driver before their celebrations begin. Funding for this program is through a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Over the course of the past three years, DUI collisions have claimed 8 lives and resulted in 217 injury crashes harming 323 of our friends and neighbors in Modesto.

Statewide, overall traffic deaths declined by 23 percent, from 3,995 in 2007 to 3,081 in 2009. Total traffic fatalities are at their lowest levels in six decades. DUI deaths declined by 16 percent from 1,132 in 2007 to 950 in 2009. Alcohol impaired deaths still make up the largest category of overall vehicle fatalities, with 31 percent of all deaths caused by a drunk driver.

“Everyone in California should be heartened with these declines,” said Christopher J. Murphy, Director of the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS). “But as encouraging as this is, we can’t let up on the efforts to encourage and support traffic safety. Please, help make your community safe; if you see a Drunk Driver – Call 9-1-1.”

MEDIA NOTES: For information regarding impaired driving efforts and programs in California please contact Chris Cochran, California Office of Traffic Safety at (916) 905-3063 or via email at [email protected].