The local office of the California Highway Patrol is stepping up their efforts to keep drunk drivers off the area’s highways and roads with a new heightened enforcement campaign.

The CHP’s Modesto Area office will use a federal grant to conduct a regional campaign against impaired drivers in Stanislaus County.  The 12-month project started Oct.1, and will end on Sept. 30, 2016. 

The CHP’s Modesto Area will deploy officers on enhanced enforcement particularly on Interstate 5, State Routes 33, 99, 108, 120, 132, 165 and 219; and jurisdictional unincorporated roadways, like West Main Street, Crows Landing Road, Las Palmas Avenue, Greer Avenue, Carpenter Road, Patterson Road, Hatch Road and Keyes Road in Stanislaus County, said CHP spokesperson Officer Eric Parsons.

According to the CHP’s Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System, during the course of a 12-month period (Oct. 1, 2012, and Sept. 30, 2013), there were 11 people killed and 125 others injured in traffic collisions involving impaired drivers on jurisdictional roadways.

“With a proactive approach to raise awareness and eliminate driving under the influence, we can continue to reduce the number of collisions occurring in Stanislaus County,” said CHP Capt. Andy Williams, commander of the Modesto Area office.  “This grant will help to keep the momentum going by removing impaired drivers before they destroy any more lives.”

Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In addition to funding the extra enforcement efforts, the grant will be used for a community-based task force and public awareness campaign to help reinforce the anti-DUI message, Parsons said.