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Put to the test
Simi police will take part this weekend in an $11-million national campaign using that slogan to help deter people from drinking and driving and to arrest those who don't heed the warning. The slogan was created by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration with help from the American Beverage Institute. The campaign is intended to differentiate between adults who drink responsibly and those who drive with a blood-alcohol level over 0.08 percent, according to ABI's website. "Across the state and nation, we see a statistical increase in the number of drunk driving incidents during this holiday," said Lt. Roy Jones of the Simi Valley Police Department's traffic division. "We want to stop people from getting behind the wheel by publicizing this campaign. The real goal is to make sure people get home safely, not to make arrests." According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 11,000 law enforcement agencies across the nation are participating in the campaign. Radio, television and Internet ads announcing the effort in both English and Spanish are currently being aired. "We're just hoping that folks will decide not to drink and drive once they realize we will be looking for it," Jones said, adding "We want them to find another way home besides the back of a Simi Valley police cruiser." In 2005, there were 311 DUI arrests in the city of Simi Valley, with 79 of those arrests coming from traffic collisions, according to officials. One-third of all traffic fatalities are caused by men between the ages of 21 and 34 with bloodalcohol levels of .08 or higher. The police department said it will not be setting up any sobriety checkpoints but will be fielding 14 additional officers and supervisors to patrol the streets, according to Jones, who added that many of the officers will be out under strict orders to look for intoxicated drivers. "There will be cars specifically patrolling for DUI drivers," he said. "If you're out there drunk on the road, there's every likelihood that we're going to catch you." Jones said the department has successfully employed checkpoints in the past, but decided this time to go with what they call "direct enforcement." "Direct enforcement details give us a broader opportunity to contact DUI drivers than checkpoints do," Jones said. "If we set up a checkpoint at First and L.A. Avenue, well then we're only affecting drivers at First and L.A. Avenue. This way, we are looking city-wide." The city won't be receiving national funds to cover the overtime costs, but Jones said the department already has money set aside in its budget just for these kinds of operations. "Every year we build in a certain amount of cost related to police overtime," Jones said. "The city council, the city manager and administration feels this problem is important enough where we should dedicate a certain amount of resources to it." In addition to cracking down on drunk drivers, Simi Valley police will also be extra diligent about ticketing individuals not wearing seat belts and bikers not wearing helmets. The crackdown will begin on Sun., Sept. 3 and last two weeks. "For that time period, our officers will be looking aggressively for restraint and safety violations," Jones said. The seat belt and motorcycle helmet campaign was devised after the police department performed a five-year analysis of traffic collisions in Simi Valley. The study showed that for cities comparable in size to Simi Valley, Simi had a slightly higher number of injuries resulting from collisions. |
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