Culver City police DUI Enforcement Team officers are cracking down on alcohol and drug-impaired drivers for the month, as part of the department’s traffic safety campaign.
DUI Saturation Patrols will deploy on various days throughout August, between the hours of noon and 3 a.m., in areas with high frequencies of DUI collisions and/or arrests.
DUI checkpoints and DUI saturation patrols have been successful in lowering the number of people killed or injured in crashed tied to alcohol or drug impairment, CC police officials said. High-visibility enforcement can reduce these impairment-related crashed by as much as 20 percent, police said according to research data.
Officers will looks for signs of alcohol and/or drug impairment. When possible, specially trained officers will be available 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 Culver City Police Department 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.
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.
The cost of a ride home is significantly less expensive than the cost of a DUI arrest, which would jail time, fines, fees, DUI classes and license suspensions. Cost can be as much as $10,000.
Funding for this DUI operation is provided to the Culver City Police Department 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’.