Sonora, CA — Although officers will also be on the lookout for distracted, drunk and drugged drivers, the CHP says seat belt usage is the focus of its Memorial Day Maximum Enforcement Period (MEP).
This weekend’s MEP, which begins at 6 p.m. today, runs until midnight Monday. Through the MEP, CHP officers will be doing outreach to educate motorists in addition to enforcing traffic safety laws. “It only takes two seconds to buckle up,” CHP Commissioner Warren Stanley emphasizes, “Wearing a seat belt is such a simple task to keep you and your passengers safe. Remember, it is also the law.”
According to CHP figures, approximately 70 percent of the vehicle occupants who died in the CHP jurisdiction during the 2016 and 2017 Memorial Day MEPs were not wearing seat belts.
A total of 45 people died statewide in Memorial Day MEP collisions in 2017; 39 in 2016.
During those same MEPs, there were 921 arrests in California for driving under the influence in 2017 and 1,065 in 2016.
This post was last modified on 05/25/2018 2:48 pm
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