By Mindy Ragan Wood, Staff Writer – Piedmont police officers will be out in full force this holiday weekend.
While Chief Scott Singer said they were thankful the Christmas holiday weekend brought no DUI related accidents, they are prepared to stop anyone who might be impaired for the New Year.
“We’re going to have the majority of the department on duty out for DUI enforcement,” Singer said. “We’ll be concentrating on the major highways, but the really clever folks who want to try to avoid the check points try to take the back roads. We’re going to be working those a lot.”
Singer said they are also watching the weather. At press time some weather forecasts predicted a 20 to 50 percent chance of snow on Sunday.
“People who are going to be viewing games and drinking and get out on the road, if the weather’s bad and the streets are slick, it’s going to be that much more dangerous for them. We really hope people stay home,” Singer said.
In his experience, Singer said he believes more people are choosing to stay home for the holiday due to the increased risk of encountering a drunk or impaired driver.
Last year on New Year’s Eve, a Yukon mother of two, Amanda Carson, and a Vietnam foreign exchange student were killed as the result of a drunk driver collision on the Kilpatrick Turnpike near Wilshire Boulevard.
“More and more people are staying home because of the awareness and education regarding drunk drivers on the road. A lot of people think, ‘what’s the point? We can enjoy it at home.’”
