Law enforcement on hunt for impaired drivers
| Friday, Jul 03 2009 06:56 PM
Last Updated Friday, Jul 03 2009 06:56 PM
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Officers from several law enforcement agencies will be out in force during the Fourth of July holiday weekend, cracking down on impaired and drunken drivers, the Kern Avoid DUI Campaign Task Force reported Friday in a news release.
The holiday enforcement push will include a DUI checkpoint that will operate from 6 p.m. to 3 a.m. in an undisclosed location in greater Bakersfield.
And starting Friday and continuing through Sunday, extra roving patrols will be assigned by police in Bakersfield, Bear Valley Springs, Ridgecrest, Shafter and Taft.
Sheriff's deputies will staff extra DUI units in the unincorporated areas and will support the efforts of the various police departments.
To top it off, the California Highway Patrol will assign 80 percent of all available officers to the regions freeways and unincorporated roads continuing through midnight Sunday.
"Driving while drunk isn't worth the tremendous risk," said Shafter Police Chief Charlie Fivecoat, the coordinator for Kern Avoid.
In 2007, 34 percent of all drivers involved in traffic-related crashes during the July 4th holiday period had a blood alcohol concentration of .08 or higher, Fivecoat said.
Last year, five alcohol-related traffic injuries occurred in Kern County.
