BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK\/KBFX) \u2014 The California Highway Patrol will launch a 12-hour Maximum Enforcement Period (MEP) from 6 p.m. Friday, October 31, through 6 a.m. Saturday, November 1, to protect motorists and prevent impaired driving.<\/p>\n
During the operation, all available CHP officers will be on patrol statewide, focusing on identifying and arresting impaired drivers before they cause harm.<\/p>\n
CHP said impairment is not limited to alcohol. Prescription medications, over-the-counter drugs and cannabis products can all affect a driver\u2019s ability to operate a vehicle safely.<\/p>\n
Drivers arrested for driving under the influence face serious penalties, including:<\/p>\n
Driver\u2019s license suspensionFinesMandatory DUI education programsJail time<\/p>\n
During last year\u2019s 12-hour Halloween MEP, officers investigated nearly 500 crashes statewide. CHP said about 90 of those involved impaired drivers, resulting in two deaths and more than 60 injuries.<\/p>\n
CHP officers also made nearly 120 DUI arrests during that period.<\/p>\n
CHP urges motorists to:<\/p>\n
Designate a sober driver.Use ride-sharing services, taxis or public transit.Never drive impaired or ride with someone who is.<\/p>\n
If you see someone who appears to be driving impaired, call 911 immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether it\u2019s Halloween or any night of the year, the decision to drive sober can save a life,\u201d Commissioner Duryee added. \u201cTogether, we can make our roads safer and prevent tragedies before they happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
The CHP reminds all drivers to make responsible choices behind the wheel, never drive under the influence, always wear your seat belt and follow the speed limit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK\/KBFX) \u2014 The California Highway Patrol will launch a 12-hour Maximum Enforcement Period (MEP) from 6…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":39137,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[151,153,152],"class_list":["post-39136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield-headlines","tag-bakersfield-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39136"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39136\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}