Image via Wikipedia

have learned of significant law enforcement activity geared towards obtaining the maximum number of DUI arrests before the year is out.  Even though drunken driving caused-deaths have dropped to a record low, authorities are out in full force this holiday season and have so far made nearly 600 DUI arrests, mainly due to roving patrols and numerous checkpoints.  Orange County DUI enforcement agencies have arrested more than 580 people on suspicion of driving under the influence from Dec. 16-28, according to the anti-DUI campaign known as “Avoid”.

The multiagency crackdown involves the California Highway Patrol, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and police departments and lasts through Jan. 2.

During the 17-day holiday enforcement period last year, 743 people were arrested for driving under the influence, according to the “Avoid” database.

Numerous patrols and checkpoints are scheduled across the county this weekend in Laguna Niguel, Laguna Beach, Huntington Beach, La Habra, Westminster, Anaheim, Buena Park and Placentia.

This push against alcohol-imp

State-by-state data for 2010 released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shows a decline in drunken driving fatalities in 32 states. Compared with 2009, California and Florida saw the largest reductions — with each declining by more than 100 fatalities last year.

In California, the number of DUI deaths dropped to a record low of 791 last year, compared to 950 in 2009, said the California Office of Traffic Safety.

According to the Office of Traffic Safety, figures from the NHTSA show that statewide DUI deaths increased yearly from 1998 to 2005, but have decreased every year since 2005.

In Orange County, DUI deaths have consistently dropped between 2006 and 2010, NHTSA figures show. Last year, there were 36 reported DUI deaths in Orange County, compared to 44 in 2009.

“This marks a huge milestone in the fight against drunk driving,” said Christopher J. Murphy, director with the California Office of Traffic Safety.

Last year, the traffic safety office has allocated $16.8 million in federal funds to law enforcement agencies to conduct 2,553 DUI checkpoints, up from the $11.7 million provided for 1,740 checkpoints in 2009.

Free rides

To alleviate the dangers of drunken driving, agencies are offering free services for end-of-the year celebrations.

The Orange County Transportation Authority is providing free bus rides between 6 p.m. Dec. 31 and 2:30 a.m. Jan. 1.

“We encourage those out celebrating New Year’s Eve in Orange County to leave behind their cars and enjoy a free ride on the bus,” said OCTA Chair Patricia Bates, also the 5th District Supervisor. “Knowing that an OCTA bus is there to get residents home safely is something that can give everyone peace of mind this holiday season.”

Last year, there were 15,540 free New Year’s Eve boardings, OCTA officials said. Since the program began in 2002, more than 102,000 boardings have been counted.

The Automobile Club is offering its free Tipsy Tow service from 6 p.m. Dec. 30 to 6 a.m. Jan. 1, to help remove drinking drivers from the road. The service is available in the 13 Southern California counties served by the Auto Club.

To use the service, motorists can call 800-400-4AAA for a free tow home of up to seven miles. For rides farther than seven miles, drivers can expect to pay the rate charged by the tow-truck driver.

For more information on the OCTA New Year’s Eve service and to check bus routes and schedules, visit octa.net or call 714-636-7433.

Related articles

• Orange County DUI Checkpoint Locations October 7, 2011 (ocduiblog.com)
• Orange County DUI Checkpoint Locations: Mission Viejo tomorrow (ocduiblog.com)
• Orange County DUI Checkpoint Locations: Costa Mesa (ocduiblog.com)

Image via Wikipedia

Our Newport Beach DUI Lawyers have learned that the Irvine Police Department conducted a sobriety checkpoint during the evening hours on Friday, December 23^rd.  The checkpoint was located on Culver Drive at Farwell in the City of Irvine. Sobriety checkpoints are held by law enforcement to raise revenue and funding for police departments, even if they are typically not very effective at apprehending drunk drivers.  The following is a summary of the activity at the checkpoint:

Vehicles Stopped: 611

Sobriety Testing Conducted: 4

DUI Arrests:  3

Other Citations: 27

Although the DUI rate has been dropping independent of police activity, The California Office of Traffic Safety credits DUI checkpoints in 2010 as partly responsible for the reduction in DUI deaths.  According to the California Office of Traffic Safety, Nationwide deaths in crashes involving drunken drivers dropped 4.9 percent in 2010, taking 10,228 lives compared with 10,759 in 2009. But they dropped 14 percent in California, a sharp decrease that continues an overall trend over a decade due to other social and economic factors.

Related articles

• Orange County DUI Checkpoint Locations: Costa Mesa (ocduiblog.com)
• Orange County DUI Checkpoint Locations: Newport Beach (ocduiblog.com)
• Orange County DUI Checkpoint locations: San Juan Capistrano (ocduiblog.com)

Image by FrogMiller via Flickr

Our Newport Beach DUI Lawyers have learned that the Orange County Sheriff’s Department “Avoid the 12″ DUI Task Force will be conducting DUI-roving patrols in the Cities of San Juan Capistrano, Dana Point and San Clemente on Friday, October 7, 2011.

These Multi-City DUI teams will target areas that have a high incidence of DUI related arrests and collisions.
Funding for this program is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
For questions about Orange County DUI cases, contact DUI Lawyer Robert Miller at (949) 682-5316.

Related articles

• Orange County DUI Checkpoint locations: San Juan Capistrano (ocduiblog.com)
• Orange County DUI Crackdown results in 255 arrests in one week (ocduiblog.com)
• Orange County DUI Checkpoints – Newport Beach (ocduiblog.com)
• Orange County DUI Checkpoint Locations August 26-27 2011 (ocduiblog.com)
• Costa Mesa Police release some, but not all, DUI statistics (ocduiblog.com)

Image via Wikipedia

Our Orange County DUI Lawyers have learned that the Orange County Sheriffs Department will be conducting a DUI/Drivers License Checkpoint in the City of San Juan Capistrano on Friday, September 23, 2011, from 6:30 p.m. until 2:30 a.m. The checkpoints are part of a grant the Sheriffs Department received from the State of California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and are set up to target drivers who are driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and / or driving a vehicle without a drivers license.

DUI Checkpoints are not especially helpful in apprehending persons driving under the influence, but can be an especially lucrative operation for law enforcement agencies, which catch and impound unlicensed drivers (impound fees for 30-60 days can run into thousands), and receive money in funds from the Federal and State governments, and MADD, which typically pay for officer overtime.

If you need a DUI Specialist Orange County, call our firm at (877) 568-2977, anytime.  And be careful out there.

Related articles

• Orange County DUI Checkpoint Locations: Costa Mesa (ocduiblog.com)
• Orange County DUI Checkpoints – Newport Beach (ocduiblog.com)
• 4 arrested in San Juan Capistrano jewelry robbery (abclocal.go.com)

Image via Wikipedia

Our Newport Beach DUI Lawyers have learned taht Newport Beach Police Department traffic officers will conduct a sobriety checkpoint from 6 p.m. tonight until 1 a.m. Thursday.

The checkpoint will be northbound Newport Boulevard at Finley Avenue, a location selected based upon its proximity to bars and restaurants, according to a police statement. “Site determination was also based upon roadway configuration, sight distances, traffic volume, lighting, and motorist safety, the statement said.

The checkpoint will be clearly marked, police said, and vehicles will be selected to move through the check lanes on a pre-set basis to ensure objectivity and timeliness. “Motorists will be greeted and given an informational brochure on Driving Under The Influence, prepared by the Newport Beach Police Department Traffic Division, the statement said.

Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS), through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.  Call us at (877) 568-2977 for any questions.

Image by FrogMiller via Flickr

Related articles

• Orange County DUI Checkpoints: Newport Beach (ocduiblog.com)
• Orange County DUI Checkpoint Locations: Costa Mesa (ocduiblog.com)
• DUI Checkpoint in Irvine: 505 cars, one arrest (ocduiblog.com)

Image via Wikipedia

Our Newport Beach DUI Lawyers have learned that from 12:01 AM Friday August 19, 2011 through Midnight Thursday, August 25, 2011, preliminary numbers show that officers representing Orange County law enforcement agencies have arrested 255 individuals for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Special DUI Enforcement cars as well as all regularly scheduled traffic and patrol officers will continue to focus their efforts on stopping and arresting DUI drivers during their shifts.  Funding for this program is provided by a grant from the California Office of  Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. DUI arrest data collection will continue through Labor Day Weekend, midnight Monday, September 5,
2011.   Be careful this Labor Day weekend.

Related articles

• Orange County DUI Checkpoint Locations: Mission Viejo tomorrow (ocduiblog.com)
• Orange County DUI Checkpoint Locations August 26-27 2011 (ocduiblog.com)
• Orange County DUI Checkpoints: (ocduiblog.com)

Image via Wikipedia

Our Newport Beach DUI Lawyers have learned directly from the Traffic Division of the Newport Beach Police Department that they will be conducting a sobriety/driver’s license checkpoint on Friday, August 12, 2011. The location of the checkpoint will be northbound Dover Drive at 16th Street. The approximate hours of operation will be from 9:00 p.m. until 3:00 a.m.

The checkpoint location was selected based upon its proximity to bars and restaurants and provides a high degree of visibility to the motoring public. Site determination was also based upon roadway configuration, sight distances, traffic volume, lighting, and motorist safety. A primary consideration was also officer safety.

The checkpoint will be clearly marked and vehicles will be selected to move through the check lanes on a pre-set basis to ensure objectivity and timeliness, according to the police agency.

Checkpoints do not necessarily produce dramatic increases in arrests, as we have reported previously.

Image via Wikipedia

Our Orange County DUI Lawyers have learned that the Seal Beach Police Department Traffic Unit will be conducting a DUI and drivers license checkpoint on Friday, July 29 at the intersection of 1^st Street and PCH between 6:00pm and 3:00am.

Although the Seal Beach Police Department claims that DUI checkpoints are a proven effective method to apprehend drunk drivers, statistics say that roving saturation patrols are much more effective.  The Seal Beach Police Department says that drivers will be checked to ensure that they have a valid driver’s license, and the impounds fees from persons driving without a valid license, are a significant source of revenue for law enforcement, according to UC Berkeley.

Image via Wikipedia

Our Newport Beach DUI Lawyers have learned that, although no DUI-related traffic fatalities were reported in Orange County over the July 4 holiday weekend, the number of arrests at sobriety checkpoints was nearly double that of last year, authorities reported.

The Avoid the 38 DUI task force concluded its weekend with the completion of three sobriety checkpoints along with multiple DUI saturation patrols. From midnight Friday, July 1, through midnight Monday, July 4, officers representing 38 county law enforcement agencies arrested 211 people for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

In 2010, there were only 108 DUI arrests during the four-day holiday weekend.

Deputy Wayne Howard of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department attributes the increase in arrests to an increase in grants given to law enforcement to apprehend drunk drivers.

More agencies are applying for the grants from the state Office of Traffic Safety, Howard said, and the money frees up officers to spend time on saturation patrols.

“Enforcement is getting more aggressive,” Howard said. “It’s just by the grace of God that we didn’t have fatalities this year. Experts estimate we catch only 1 to 2 percent of the drunk drivers out there. That means 20,000 people were driving drunk in Orange County just over the four-day weekend. That’s what truly scares me.

“We will continue to show zero tolerance, and anyone caught driving with a (blood alcohol content) of .08 or higher will be arrested,” Howard said.

Law enforcement officials will be conducting more Avoid Anti-DUI efforts throughout the county and region in partnership with the nationwide 18-day campaign in August ending Labor Day weekend.