Drive safe and sober during the Christmas holiday weekend, or face consequences, the California Highway Patrol warned Wednesday.
The agency will initiate its annual Christmastime “maximum enforcement period” beginning at 6 p.m. Thursday, when all available officers will deploy to catch drunk or drug-impaired drivers, speeders and other traffic violators. The MEP will conclude late Sunday night.
“The CHP wants to ensure your safety throughout this unprecedented year,” CHP Commissioner Amanda Ray said. “We are hopeful that the public will do their part and remember to make safety a priority.”
Officers from the Riverside, Blythe, Beaumont, Indio and Temecula CHP stations will be on inland freeways, highways and unincorporated roads, looking to snare scofflaws.
Ray noted that this year’s traffic volumes will undoubtedly be lower because of the public health lockdowns, but people will still be in transit, paying visits and going about their business.
The CHP and Inland Empire law enforcement agencies are joining in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s “Drive Sober, Or Get Pulled Over” campaign, which highlights the risks of driving while impaired, for which agencies will show zero tolerance.