Full Notification

During this Labor Day weekend, the Livermore Police Department wants to remind our community to drive safe and drive sober. Our community members will be out and about enjoying family get togethers and summer activities. If those events and activities include alcohol, LPD asks that you plan ahead for a sober ride home. By designating a sober driver, using public transportation, or staying at the location you are drinking, you can avoid being arrested for drunk or drugged driving. Driving a vehicle after consuming alcohol is simply not worth the risk of being arrested or involved in a collision. When using a designated driver, please remember that a “designated driver” is the person who doesn’t drink on that occasion, not the person who drinks the least.

The cost of a DUI arrest continues to increase each year. The estimated overall cost of a first offense of driving while under the influence has increased to over $10,000. The terms of the conviction in Alameda County will also include the requirement to install an Ignition Interlock Device in any vehicle being driven by the offender.

The Livermore Police Department strives to build strong partnerships in the battle against the deadly plague of impaired driving. These partnerships include The California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS), Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), the local business community, and the Livermore community as a whole. The Alameda County “Avoid the 21” Summer Enforcement Campaign began August 21st and continues through this weekend. Livermore PD will have officers working DUI saturation patrols funded by a grant from the Office of Traffic Safety.

Some national statistics show the devastating impact of drunk driving:

•Approximately one-third of all traffic crash fatalities in the United States involve drunk drivers (with blood alcohol concentrations [BACs] of .08 of higher). In 2013, there were 10,076 people killed in these preventable crashes.

•In 2013, approximately 1 in 5 child (12 and younger) passenger deaths were in drunk-driving crashes. Seventy-one percent of the time, it was the child’s own driver who was drunk.

•Of those child passengers killed while riding with a drunk driver, 44 percent weren’t buckled up at the time of the crash.

•In addition to the human toll drunk driving takes on our country, the financial impact is devastating as well: based on 2010 numbers (the most recent year for which cost data is available), impaired-driving crashes cost the United States $49.8 billion annually.

The Harvest Wine Festival will be occurring in Livermore on Sunday 9/6/15, and we ask that those attending make good choices in regard to drinking and driving.

If citizens observe a driver they suspect may be impaired, they are asked to safely call 911 and report their observations. It is important to provide a detailed description and last known location of the vehicle. Citizens should only follow the suspected impaired driver if they can do so safely.

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


CONTACT PERSON: Lt. John Hurd (925) 371-4725