FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

07-03-12 1018AM

Alcohol-impaired driving crashes make the Fourth of July one of the deadliest holidays of the year. That’s why this Independence Day, the Avoid the 25 anti-DUI task force is stepping up enforcement as part of the ongoing Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over crackdown to catch and arrest impaired drivers.

The aggressive enforcement blitz on the Fourth and the remainder of the week, including the weekend, will include sobriety/driver’s license checkpoints in Concord and Richmond and saturation patrols throughout the county.

Impaired-driving crashes killed more than 10,000 people in the United States in 2010, accounting for 31 percent of the nation’s traffic-related fatalities. That’s an average of one alcohol-impaired-driving fatality every 51 minutes.

In addition to the risk of injury and death, impaired motorists face consequences such as killing or injuring others, jail time, insurance hikes and loss of driving privileges. Avoid the 25 recommends these simple tips for a safe Fourth of July:

• Plan a safe way home before the fun begins.

• Before drinking, designate a sober driver.

• If you’re impaired, use a taxi, call a sober friend or family member, or use public transportation.

• If you see drunk drivers on the road, report them. Call 911.

• Confiscate the keys of potential impaired drivers and help them make other arrangements to get to where they’re going safely.

Funding for the Avoid Campaign comes from a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. For more information on regional/statewide Avoid campaigns, enforcement schedules and daily DUI arrest/fatality statistics, visit www.californiaavoid.org and www.stopimpaireddriving.org.

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