LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – As it does every year, the California Highway Patrol stepped up its presence on the roadways to keep things safer amidst the holiday bustle.
The CHP conducted two maximum enforcement periods, or MEPs, over the last three weeks – one for Christmas, one for New Year’s.
MEP events focus on impaired drivers, as well as distracted driving, speeding and seat belt violations, with officers also available to help motorists in need of assistance.
The annual Christmas Day Maximum Enforcement Period took place from 6:01 p.m. Dec. 24 to 11:59 p.m. Dec. 25.
CHP Headquarters reported that during the 30-hour Christmas Day Maximum Enforcement Period, 10 people were killed in collisions in California, with more than half of the victims killed not wearing a seat belt.
During that time, there also were 271 arrests statewide for driving under the influence during the MEP, the CHP reported.
In Lake County, Officer Joel Skeen of the CHP’s Clear Lake Area office said there was one arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol during the Christmas MEP.
“We also had a total of five collisions, two of which were non-injury and the other three were minor injury,” Skeen said.
The Clear Lake Area office also held a DUI and driver’s license safety checkpoint on the evening of Friday, Dec. 27, on Highway 53 at Jessie Street in Lower Lake.
Skeen said there were no arrests during the checkpoint.
The New Year’s Day MEP took place from 6:01 p.m. Dec. 31 through 11:59 p.m. Jan. 1.
For the New Year’s MEP, Skeen said the Clear Lake Area office had three DUI arrests and no fatalities.
Statewide, three people were killed in New Year’s MEP collision, according to Jaime Coffee of the CHP’s Headquarters office.
Coffee said 491 DUI arrests were made by CHP officers throughout the state during the MEP.
She said the New Year’s MEP “was not comparable to last year as it was four and a quarter days in length,” Coffee said.
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CHP reports on maximum enforcement periods, checkpoint
- Elizabeth Larson
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