Full Notification

Last Friday, the Mountain View Police Department joined other Santa Clara County law enforcement agencies in the Avoid the 13 holiday DUI campaign. Our department takes traffic safety very seriously and encourages everyone to enjoy the holidays in a safe and sober manner when getting to and from events.

As part of this campaign, MVPD invites you to join us on Twitter as we take a virtual ride along with Officer Hoang and Lieutenant Fisher as they work a shift solely dedicated to keeping the streets of Mountain View safe by locating and apprehending dangerous drivers under the influence of alcohol. This virtual "tweet-a-long" will take place Friday, Dec. 21st between 9pm and 1am. You can follow us on Twitter @MountainViewPD and the event hashtag will be #MVavoid13.

Furthermore, as part of ongoing Avoid the 13 efforts, on Saturday, December 29, 2012, beginning at 10:00 PM, there will be a DUI checkpoint in Mountain View. Traffic flowing through the checkpoint will be contacted by uniformed officers who will be checking for alcohol and/or drug-impaired drivers.

The purpose of the checkpoint is to promote public safety, increase awareness of the dangers associated with drinking and driving, and serves as a deterrent to potential impaired driving.

Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.


HISTORY
The Avoid the 13 Anti-DUI Program was launched in 1973 to bring law enforcement agencies together in countywide teams to crack down on the drinking driver and reduce the number of deaths and injuries caused by alcohol related crashes. The overall goal of the awareness campaign is to inform drivers about the countywide increased enforcement periods and warn drivers that the only way to “AVOID” the county’s law enforcement officers is to drive sober.

Santa Clara County was the first to participate in the program. Since 1974, 35 counties have joined the program bringing over 350 law enforcement agencies together to fight drunk driving. During this same period, nine Bay Area Counties joined forces to become the first regional Avoid Program in the nation with 125 participating law enforcement agencies.

During the 2011 Avoid campaign, MVPD arrested 34 DUI drivers and made two warrant arrests for DUI.

MVPD SOCIAL MEDIA
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