By Cecily Barnes
Between Dec. 13 and Jan. 1, the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department arrested eight drunk drivers in Saratoga and 75 throughout the county. The number of patrol units used during this 20-day holiday period was beefed up, with hopes of preventing DUI-related deaths.
Fortunately, it worked. From Daly City to Gilroy, not a single person died from drunk driving this holiday season, said law enforcement officials.
The Sheriff's Department was not the only law enforcement agency to crack down on drunk drivers over the holidays. Sixteen other county enforcement agencies banded together for Avoid the 13, a campaign that promotes boosted patrols and increased DUI watches.
Avoid the 13 began in 1974, seven years before Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD).
"The word came down to the CHP area commanders from the commissioner of the Highway Patrol. He essentially said, 'I want you to do something about drunk driving,'" explained Jan Ford, spokeswoman for the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department. "[The commissioner] went to the Police Chief's association and suggested they all get together and form Avoid the 13."
The program got its name because at the time, there were 13 law enforcement agencies in the county. Now there are 17, and every one of them participated in the program this year, making a total of 1,137 DUI arrests during the 20-day campaign.
"[Avoid the 13] has been doing it for 23 years, and it's been such a success," Ford said. "It's a tribute to the county. In our first year, 13 people were killed, now we have two beautiful zeros."
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, January 15, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.