Crime - drunk driving
Sonora, CA – The numbers are in for the CHP’s Thanksgiving Holiday Maximum Enforcement Period (MEP) and one targeted area is showing improvement at both the state and local levels.
Statewide, the CHP had 867 DUI arrests, which is down from 931 last year. The San Andreas CHP Unit in Calaveras County reports just one drunk driving arrest this year while Sonora Unit CHP spokesperson Steve Machado relays a dip from five in 2018 to three this year. Overall Machado notes, “It’s nice to know that we’ve taken that many DUI drivers off the roads and potentially prevented people from getting injured or killed in a collision.”
The ultimate goal is to have zero intoxicated drivers on the roadways, says Machado, but he adds, “We’re going in the right direction. We hope that’s a trend we keep having and next year the numbers are even lower.”
Sadly, there was also one fatal crash in Tuolumne County over the holiday, as reported here. In Calaveras County, there were six crashes; five non-injury and one with moderate injuries.
Written by Tracey Petersen.
Sign up for our Breaking News Alerts and the myMotherLode.com Daily Newsletters by clicking here. Report breaking news, traffic or weather to our News Hotline (209) 532-6397. Send Mother Lode News Story photos to news@clarkebroadcasting.com.
For Caltrans traffic information for Highway’s 4, 49, 59, 108, and 120 plus a view of traffic on other Mother Lode roads click on “Traffic” or keyword: traffic and our local gas price page is here. For an overview of extreme weather news stories go here.