Crime & Safety

State Grants Equals More DUI Enforcement for Loma Linda/Redlands

The State Office of Traffic Safety has awarded the cities the California Highway Patrol hundreds of thousands in grants so that sobriety checkpoint can continue.

Expect to see a lot more DUI enforcement this year.

The State Office of Traffic Safety recently awarded several millions of dollars in grants to cities across the state, including $120,000 to the city of Redlands and $470,000 to the Intensive Probation Supervision for High-Risk Felony and Repeat DUI Offenders run by San Bernardino County.

The California Highway Patrol will also receive money for enforcement but the amount had not yet been released as of Monday. The CHP plans to use the federal money to launch the Impaired Driving Enforcement and Apprehension or IDEA campaign which includes DUI checkpoints and an educational media campaign, CHP officials said.

Find out what's happening in Redlands-Loma Lindawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The CHP patrols roughly 11 miles of highway between Loma Linda and Redlands and about 19 miles within the Pass area that includes Calimesa, Beaumont, Banning and Cabazon.

“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,” said CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow

Find out what's happening in Redlands-Loma Lindawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Loma Linda is a dry city. No hard alcohol is sold within city limits. But even this small town saw two alcohol related deaths and three alcohol involved injury crashes in 2009, according to OTS statistics. Redlands, a larger town with several bars had 2 alcohol-involved fatalities and 52 alcohol involved injury crashes, according to the statistics.

“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.”

According to the CHP, alcohol-involved collisions in California accounted for 14 percent of the total number of crashes reported in the state in 2009. As a result of the more than 8,600 alcohol-involved collisions, 754 people were killed and another 11,764 others were injured.


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