Deputies to Hunt Drunk Drivers in South County this Weekend

Submitted by the Orange County Sheriff's Department

Deputies from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department’s DUI Task Force will be deploying this weekend to stop and arrest alcohol and drug-impaired drivers in the department’s ongoing traffic safety campaign. DUI Saturation Patrols will deploy on Friday, April 8th at 7:00 p.m. and continue until Saturday, April 9th at 3:00 a.m. in the cities of Mission Viejo, Lake Forest and Rancho Santa Margarita.

“This is a ‘Zero Tolerance’ crackdown so Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over!” said Deputy Manuel Cruz from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department Traffic Bureau.

After falling dramatically for five straight years, figures for 2012 show an increase to 802 deaths because someone failed to designate a sober driver. Over the course of the past three years, DUI collisions in areas contracted by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department have claimed 21 lives and resulted in 497 injuries of our friends and neighbors.

DUI can impact the economy in addition to the pain and suffering of those immediately affected. Conservatively, a fatality has a $1.4 million impact, an injury $70,000 and a crash that only damages property, averages nearly $9,000.

Funding for this program is from a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Report Drunk Drivers, Call 911!