By Staff reports —
SACRAMENTO — The California Highway Patrol (CHP) has received federal funds to help launch and maintain its statewide Impaired Driving Enforcement and Apprehension (IDEA) campaign.
The campaign”s overall goal is to use enhanced enforcement and increased public awareness to reduce the number of alcohol-involved collisions and prevent people from being injured or killed in those crashes.
“California has made great strides in reducing the number of people killed or injured as a result of DUI,” said CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow. “We will continue our efforts in educating the public and arrest those who choose to endanger themselves and others.”
In 2009, the number of alcohol-related collisions in California accounted for 14 percent of the total number of crashes reported statewide, the CHP said. During that year, 754 people were killed and another 11,764 others were injured in 8,600 alcohol-involved collisions, according to the CHP.
The IDEA program will provide funding to allow the CHP to conduct sobriety and driver license checkpoints, DUI task force operations and deploy proactive DUI enforcement patrol operations statewide.
The CHP will also conduct local traffic-safety presentations in an effort to reach thousands of people throughout California.
“We will be tracking the progress of this anti-DUI program for positive results, as we work toward our goal of removing impaired drivers from California”s roadways,” Farrow said.
Funding for the IDEA campaign was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
