This past weekend, a DUI taskforce arrested 26 drivers for allegedly drinking and driving from Moreno Valley to Indio, all in Riverside County.  These arrests follow heightened area patrols over the weekend.

The “Avoid the 30” taskforce patrolled the streets between 6 PM Saturday night and 4 AM Sunday morning in search of drunk drivers.  The taskforce is divided across five regions of the county and consists of more than 30 law enforcement agencies on both the ground and in the air that are specifically trained to identify DUI offenders.

“Drinking and driving in Riverside County will not be tolerated,” claims Riverside County Sheriff Bob Doyle, when explaining the idea behind the taskforce. 

Doyle also goes on to explain that “driving under the influence is a crime that is 100% preventable.”

Over the weekend, sixty-one traffic citations were issued, 33 vehicles were impounded, and 22 people were taken into custody for driving without a license or driving with a suspended license.  This is in addition to the 26 arrests.

The goal of the “Avoid the 30” taskforce is to reduce the alcohol-related vehicular fatalities and injuries by at least 5 percent before October 2007.  In 2002, there were 1,191 such instances in Riverside County.

Since its inception, the taskforce has arrested over 960 drunk drivers.  It will continue to conduct warrant sweeps and patrols throughout the year.