LIVE BLOG: MVPD Tweet-A-Long for DUI Enforcement

The Mountain View Police Department joins other area law enforcement this Friday night in a virtual "tweet-a-long" between 9 p.m. and 1 a.m.

If you don't have Twitter, or don't know how to use it, you can follow them here on Mountain View Patch LIVE. Feel free to leave comments that we can then tweet to Lt. Mike Fisher who will live tweet as he rides with Ofc. Terry Hoang in a patrol car tasked with locating and apprehending DUI drivers in Mountain View.

If you are on Twitter follow the @MountainViewPD with the event hashtag of #MVavoid13.  Lt. Mike Fisher will responds throughout the night.

All of their interactions can be followed right here on Mountain View Patch!

Furthermore, as part of ongoing Avoid the 13 efforts, on Saturday, December 29, 2012, beginning at 10 p.m., there will be a DUI checkpoint in Mountain View. Traffic flowing through the checkpoint will be contacted by uniformed officers who will be checking for alcohol and/or drug-impaired drivers.

The purpose of the checkpoint is to promote public safety, increase awareness of the dangers associated with drinking and driving, and serves as a deterrent to potential impaired driving.

Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

HISTORY

The Avoid the 13 Anti-DUI Program was launched in 1973 to bring law enforcement agencies together in countywide teams to crack down on the drinking driver and reduce the number of deaths and injuries caused by alcohol related crashes. The overall goal of the awareness campaign is to inform drivers about the countywide increased enforcement periods and warn drivers that the only way to “AVOID” the county’s law enforcement officers is to drive sober.

Santa Clara County was the first to participate in the program. Since 1974, 35 counties have joined the program bringing over 350 law enforcement agencies together to fight drunk driving. During this same period, nine Bay Area Counties joined forces to become the first regional Avoid Program in the nation with 125 participating law enforcement agencies.

During the 2011 Avoid campaign, MVPD arrested 34 DUI drivers and made two warrant arrests for DUI.