[UPDATED:] Tustin, Cypress, La Habra, Costa Mesa, Dana Point and Garden Grove Hold DUI Checkpoints Tonight, a Bunch More Follow Through the Holidays

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Update, December 17, 2:46 p.m.: Irvine Police announce a DUI checkpoint for Saturday night (weather permitting). Details on next page.

Update, December 17, 12:11 p.m.: Two more DUI checkpoints will be held tonight, in Seal Beach and Huntington Beach.

The Seal Beach operation runs from 6 tonight to 3 a.m. Saturday at Pacific Coast Highway and 1st Street.

A checkpoint begins at 9 tonight at an undisclosed Huntington Beach location.
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Original Post, December 17, 11:30 a.m.: It's getting that you can't keep the DUI checkpoints straight without a scorecard.

Hopefully, this post will help.

That's because a bunch of stop points aimed at taking the imbibed and unlicensed off roads are being erected tonight, with even more planned through the new year.

Other operations targeting drunken drivers are also scheduled countywide.

Illustration by Jay Brockman

Don't drink like a fish . . . or else!

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First, tonight's shows of force:

• 17th Street and Raymond Avenue in Costa Mesa, 6-11 p.m.

• 12100 Harbor Blvd., Garden Grove, 9 tonight to 3 a.m. Saturday.

• Somewhere in Tustin, 7 p.m.

• Somewhere in La Habra, 7 tonight to 3 a.m. Saturday.

• Somewhere in Cypress, 7 tonight to 3 a.m. Saturday.

• Somewhere in Dana Point, 7 tonight to 3 a.m. Saturday.

Saturday DUI/drivers license checkpoints:

• 9191 Westminster Ave., Garden Grove, 9 p.m. Saturday to 3 a.m. Sunday.

• UPDATE: Jamboree Road and Birch Street in Irvine. No hours given and it will not be held in inclement weather.

• Somewhere in Anaheim, Laguna Beach and Fullerton, 7 p.m. Saturday to 3 a.m. Sunday.

A checkpoint is also scheduled from 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 30 to 2 a.m. Friday, Dec. 31 somewhere in Laguna Hills.

Checkpoints are not the sole operations police and sheriff's agencies employ to sweep drunks off the roads. Special task force operations that combine the talents of different agencies and saturation patrols where cops flood roads often traveled are other tools employed by law enforcement.

Here is the schedule so far:

• Police in Irvine and Tustin hold DUI task force operations from 8 p.m. Friday to 2 a.m. Saturday.

• Police in La Habra, Buena Park and Placentia hold DUI task force operations from 8 p.m. Friday to 2 a.m. Saturday and 8 p.m. Saturday to 2 a.m. Sunday.

• Saturation patrol in Costa Mesa from 7 p.m. Saturday to 4 a.m. Sunday.

  

• Saturation patrols in Brea, Tustin and Fountain Valley from 8 p.m. Saturday to 3 a.m. Sunday.

• Police in Cypress, Anaheim, La Palma, Los Alamitos and Seal Beach hold DUI task force operations from 8 p.m. Saturday to 2 a.m. Sunday.

• Saturation patrol in La Habra from 8 p.m. Sunday to 3 a.m. Monday.

• Orange County Sheriff's Department countywide warrant/probation sweep on Monday.

• Saturation patrol in  Cypress from 8 p.m. Monday to 3 a.m. Tuesday.

• Saturation patrol in Seal Beach from 8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 23 to 3 a.m. Friday, Dec. 24.

• Saturation patrol in Santa Ana from 8 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 26 to 3 a.m. Monday, Dec. 27.

• Saturation patrol in Seal Beach from 8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 30 to 3 a.m. Friday, Dec. 31.

• Saturation patrol in Costa Mesa from 7 p.m. Dec. 31 to 4 a.m. Jan. 1.

• Saturation patrols in Anaheim, Placentia and Westminster from 8 p.m. Dec. 31 to 3 a.m. Jan. 1.

• Saturation patrol in Anaheim from 8 p.m. Jan. 2 to 3 a.m. Jan. 3.

Additional DUI saturation patrols will be done on undisclosed dates during the holidays by Buena Park Police, Cal State Fullerton Police, La Palma Police, Los Alamitos Police, the Orange County Sheriff's Department, Seal Beach Police, Tustin Police and UC Irvine Police.

Why?
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Because according to the Orange County Sheriff's Department-led “Avoid the 38” campaign, 36 Californians were killed in crashes statewide with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or higher and another 1,168 were injured in alcohol-involved wrecks during last year's two and half week Winter Holiday campaign.

Over the same period in Orange County, 1 person was killed, 78 people were injured and there were 172 collisions–all related to alcohol.

Garden Grove Police Chief Joe Polisar wants parents to know that young males are particularly at risk of driving while snockered.

“We know that the holiday season can be one of the deadliest and most dangerous times on America's roadways due to an increase in drunk driving,” Polisar says in a department-issued statement.   “Don't let your 2010 end in an arrest or worse, injury or death.  Remember, whether you've had way too many or just one too many, it's not worth the risk!”

Avoid the 38 recommends these tips for a safe holiday season:
   

• Plan a safe way home before the festivities begin;

• Before drinking, designate a sober driver;

• If you're impaired, use a taxi, call a sober friend or family member, or use public transportation;

• If you happen to see a drunk driver on the road, don't hesitate to contact your local law enforcement;

• If you know someone who is about to drive or ride while impaired, take their keys and help them make other arrangements to get to where they are going safely.

As usual, these operations are funded by grants from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Visit californiaavoid.org for more stats, operation details and other pertinent information.