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http://www.ksbw.com/news/24402881/detail.html CHP Cracking Down On Drunken Driving Schedule Change May Help Reduce DUI-Related Crashes POSTED: 8:32 pm PDT July 26, 2010 UPDATED: 8:59 pm PDT July 26, 2010
MONTEREY, Calif. -- The Monterey County California Highway Patrol is making some major changes to its patrols designed to crack down on more drunken drivers and reduce the number of collisions.
CHP Capt. William Perlstein said there have been 10 collisions and 11 people killed in the area.
The quest to keep people safe has spurred Perlstein to change the number of officers he has on local highways and when.
Perlstein said they've looked at six months worth of data to find out when things are happening, when people are injured and killed on highways.
He said what he learned surprise him.
Perlstein said generally they do a lot of work during commute times Monday through Friday, but he said what is unique in Monterey County is they have a lot of tourists on weekends.
With an even higher traffic count on weekends than during commute hours, officers' schedules have been shifted to target those times.
Perlstein said during peak activity -- 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. -- six to eight additional officers are on the road and a DUI vehicle has been designated.
Perlstein said since they started the DUI program July 5 -- for five nights of work -- two officers have made 17 DUI arrests. He said that tells him the program is effective and there are drivers out there we need to work harder to get them off the road.
Completely removing the DUI element of problems on highways could reduce number of fatalities by 40 percent.
Statistics from the new schedules will be collected for the next six months and then analyzed to see if the changes are working.
