Sacramentans Drink and Drive at Holiday Sobriety Challenge

SONOMA, Calif.:  People were drinking and driving at
Raley Field in Sacramento on Friday, Dec. 16, all under the watchful eye
of the California Highway Patrol and other law enforcement agencies from
around Northern California. 

 

Twelve people participated in the 9th "Holiday Sobriety Challenge," a
unique event featuring a controlled wine and beer tasting experiment
that graphically illustrated the dangers of drinking and driving, even
at levels well below the legal limit (.08-percent).

 

The event was hosted by Infineon Raceway, the Jim Russell Racing
Schools, which is based at Infineon Raceway,  and the Sacramento River
Cats, the Triple-A affiliate of Major League Baseball's Oakland A's. The
Office of Traffic Safety was also a co-sponsor of the event.

 

Twenty eight law enforcement agencies from Sacramento, Placer and Yolo
counties participated in the Holiday Sobriety Challenge, which signaled
the start of a concentrated 18-day mobilization against drunk and
impaired drivers that will end at midnight on Jan. 2, 2006.

 

This marked the first time in the nine-year history of the event that it
had been held away from Infineon Raceway. 

 

"We began this event nine years ago with the hope of sending a very
important message out to drivers, and we are glad that we could take
this on the road to Sacramento and create even more awareness," said
Steve Page, president and general manager of Infineon Raceway.

 

Testers were given anywhere from one to three glasses of wine or beer
upon arrival, before submitting to a field of sobriety tests, including
a breathalyzer analysis administered by a law enforcement officer. Once
it was determined participants were at the appropriate level, they were
asked to get behind the wheel of an automobile and drive through
pre-determined courses. All drivers were accompanied by an instructor
from the Jim Russell Racing Schools, and tests included lane changing,
parallel parking, turning radius and speed drills. 

 

Twelve people, a combination of media members and citizens, took the
test with blood-alcohol content levels ranging from .038-percent to
.066-percent, well below the legal limit. Of the 12 testers, five failed
the simple test. The event has had a 70-percent fail rate over the last
six years.

 

"This really showed me that even one drink can adversely affect my
driving skills," said Bill George, owner of Nimbus Marketing Inc., a
public relations and advertising firm in Sacramento. "It really
surprised me. I thought I'd be OK but this was a real eye-opener."

 

In 2004, 1,462 people were killed and 31,538 were injured in
alcohol-related crashes in California, compared to 1,445 fatalities and
31,337 injuries in 2003.

 

"Impaired driving is a violent crime that tops the traffic safety hit
list in California," said CHP Commissioner Mike Brown. "There will be no
warnings and there will not be second chances. We're going to be looking
for impaired drivers and if we catch you and you're convicted, you will
go to jail."

 

More than 350 law enforcement agencies statewide are participating in
the state's most aggressive impaired driving crackdowns of the year. The
event on Friday was held in connection with STAR (Statewide Traffic
Action Response), a coalition of five traffic and safety related
departments under the state Business, Transportation and Housing Agency.