CHP to launch statewide DUI enforcement over Labor Day weekend
The California Highway Patrol is set to initiate a Maximum Enforcement Period (MEP) throughout the state looking to stop impaired drivers during Labor Day Weekend
"We're putting as many officers on the road as we can. DUI is our number one most preventable crime. There is no reason to be driving under the influence with rideshares like Uber and Lyft. But people continue to do it," said Officer Kylie Musselman.
Labor Day Weekend is notoriously deadly on the roads for impaired drivers. 38 people were killed in crashes throughout California during last year's holiday weekend, according to the CHP. During the enforcement period last year, the CHP made 1,064 DUI arrests.
Although they'll add an extra emphasis to their mission of keeping DUI drivers off the roads this weekend, Musselman says doing that daily is what prompted her to follow in her family's footsteps and join CHP.
"Officer Camilleri was out of the Hayward CHP office. He died on December 24th, 2017, because he got hit by a DUI driver while he was working. I will never forget Christmas Eve seeing that on the news. It was that moment that I decided I was going to be a CHP officer," she said.
The hope is that she can help make it so fewer families have to go through what Alec Flores' family lives through every day.
"The reason we do so much enforcement and write so many citations is to get those contacts and talk to people and hopefully catch them before those accidents happen It's not us trying to ruin lives. It's us trying to save lives," she said.
The hope is that she can help make it so fewer families have to go through what Alec Flores' family lives through every day.
"It will be five years in October since my son was killed. We miss him every day. Five years does seem like a long time, but it also seems like just a moment," said Tara Repka Flores.
Alec was walking to school when an impaired driver hit and killed him. He was 13 years old with a promising future ahead.
"Alec was an athlete, let me tell you. He wrestled, he played football, he rode his bike. He had this amazing intensity, but he was also just a kid. He loved to hang out with his friends and be silly and goofy. He was just an amazing kid," she said.
Tara Flores, who now is a national ambassador for Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), doesn't want another family to experience what her family has.
"Every time I hear that someone else has, it breaks my heart. I want this to stop. Plan before you go somewhere about how you're going to get home safely," she said.
She says it's up to every individual to prevent these tragedies.
"No one wants to go out on the road and kill a 13-year-old child. But any time you drink and drive, you could become that person. Every single one of us has a responsibility not to drink and drive," said Flores.
She also has new optimism about a piece of legislation that was signed into law in 2021, which the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has begun the regulator phase of.
"I think the HALT Act can change the future for people in our communities. I think it can end drunk driving as we know it," she said.
From Musselman's point of view, impaired driving and the loss of life that can occur because of it are entirely preventable.
"It's not a matter of if they will get into or cause an accident, it's a matter of when. For people who drive drunk, often, it's not the first time they're doing it, it's the first time they're caught. Or maybe the second, third, or fourth time," she said.
She shared some information that she hopes all drivers will remember.
"Alcohol absorption is different for everybody. But dissipation is the same. It leaves the body at 0.02% per hour. So, if you're a 0.20 and you wait 5 hours, you're still a 0.10 – you're still above the legal limit," she said.
"People just think like, 'Oh I took a five-hour nap, I'm fine, or I ate a greasy cheeseburger. All those myths of things that sober you up. But the fact of the matter is that the only thing that sobers you up is time," she said.
However, she is aware that some people will still choose to drive impaired. That's why she takes great pride in her ongoing responsibility, which extends through the holiday weekend and far beyond.
"I'm in the perfect seat to do something about it," she said.
The MEP will begin at 6:01 p.m. on Friday, August 30th, and will run through 11:59 p.m. on Monday, September 2nd.