Celebrate Cinco de Mayo With a Designated Sober Driver NA17088lp

Cinco de Mayo has become a deadly holiday due to drunk and drugged driving. Forty people were killed in impaired driving traffic collisions across the nation during the Cinco de Mayo holiday period in 2015. Officers from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) will staff DUI checkpoints and DUI saturation patrols this weekend to stop and arrest alcohol and drug-impaired drivers. In anticipation of the Cinco de Mayo weekend, the LAPD has the following DUI-related enforcement activities scheduled:

Thursday, May 4 • DUI/Driver License Checkpoint at Olympic Boulevard at Grand Avenue from 8 P.M. to 1 A.M. • DUI Saturation Patrol in Central Area from 5 P.M. to 1 A.M. • DUI Saturation Patrol in Pacific Area from 6 P.M. to 2 A.M.

Friday, May 5 • DUI/Driver License Checkpoint at Manchester Avenue and Main Street from 8 P.M. to 1 A.M. • DUI/Driver License Checkpoint at Sunset Boulevard and Orange Grove Avenue from 8 P.M. to 1 A.M. • DUI Saturation Patrol in Central Bureau from 6 P.M. to 2 A.M.

Saturday, May 6 • DUI/Driver License Checkpoint at Sherman Way and Independence Avenue from 8 P.M. to 1 A.M. • DUI/Driver License Checkpoint at Roscoe Boulevard and Gloria Avenue from 8 P.M. to 1 A.M.

Sunday, May 7 • DUI Saturation Patrol in Mission Area from 5 P.M. to 1 A.M.

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 collisions involving an impaired driver can be reduced by up to 20 percent when well-publicized proactive DUI operations are conducted routinely.

From 2011-2015, 270 people were killed nationwide in impaired driving crashes during the Cinco de Mayo holiday period. In California, alcohol involved collisions led to 1,155 deaths and nearly 24,000 injuries in 2014 because someone failed to designate a sober driver. Over the course of the past three years, LAPD officers have investigated over 7,400 DUI-related collisions, which have claimed 54 lives and resulted in an additional 233 serious injuries.

Officers will be looking for signs of alcohol and/or drug impairment. Specially trained officers will be deployed to evaluate those suspected of drug-impaired driving, which now accounts for a growing number of impaired driving crashes.

In recent years, California has seen a disturbing increase in drug-impaired driving crashes. The LAPD 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.

Plan your sober ride home before the party begins this Cinco de Mayo. 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 LAPD by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, reminding everyone to ‘Report Drunk Driver – Call 9-1-1’.

MEDIA NOTES: To schedule an interview regarding the LAPD traffic safety efforts, please contact Officer Don Inman, Traffic Coordination Section, at (213) 486-0690.