Drunken Driving Crackdown Planned for Memorial Day

Law enforcement in Temecula was scheduled to be ramped up during the holiday weekend.

Extra deputies will be on patrol to nab drunken and drug-impaired drivers, said Dwayne May, a Riverside Police Sergeant and the coordinator of the program.

The operation is part of the “Avoid the 30” campaign, during which 30 police agencies will conduct saturation patrols and sobriety checkpoints from Friday through Monday night, May said.

The event will coincide with the California Highway Patrol’s Memorial Day weekend “Maximum Enforcement Period,” during which 80 percent of the agency’s officers will be patrolling to catch drunken drivers and other violators.

During last year’s campaign, 161 people were arrested on suspicion of drunken or drug-impaired driving in Riverside County. The year before, 169 people were arrested during the campaign.

“Drivers who know that there is a zero tolerance when it comes to drunk driving take measures to use a designated sober driver and call 911 to report a suspected drunk driver… ahead of them,” said CHP safety director Chris Murphy.

Temecula – along with Blythe, Desert Hot Springs, Palm Springs, Rancho Mirage and Riverside – plan saturation patrols on Friday night, while Canyon Lake, Moreno Valley and Riverside plan checkpoints. Similar operations will kick up county-wide during Saturday and Sunday. The operation will end at midnight Tuesday, May said.