Police, State Join Forces to Cut Drunk Driving Rate

Alarmed by a 200% increase in drunk driving fatalities in the San Fernando Valley, police said Wednesday that officers are teaming up with state Alcoholic Beverage Control Department agents to conduct surprise bar inspections, citing and arresting drunken patrons and the bar owners who serve them.

Several hundred Valley bars will be inspected over the holidays by the teams which will consist of two uniformed police officers and an ABC investigator, authorities said. It is the first time police will conduct inspections with ABC investigators, who enforce state liquor-license laws.

“The intent is to prevent people from drinking and driving,” said Capt. Scott La Chasse, commanding officer of the Valley Traffic Division. “If we observe violations, we are going to take enforcement action. We will arrest that person. There is no amnesty.”

At at a press conference held in the Van Nuys Jail drunk tank, police said there have been 23 fatal drunk driving accidents so far this year in the Valley, compared with 8 in 1985. Citywide, there have been 50 such accidents, a 43% increase over last year.

Accidents Up 13%

Also, the number of Valley drunk driving accidents involving serious injuries has jumped about 13%, from 175 in 1985 to 197 so far this year. Citywide, the increase is 5%, police said.

The statistics do not include last week’s two apparent drunk driving crashes, one on the Ventura Freeway in Agoura and one on the San Gabriel River Freeway near Whittier that killed 10 people. Those cases are being investigated by the California Highway Patrol.

“There has been a tremendous increase in fatalities and injuries in the Valley involving alcohol and we are all very concerned about it,” said La Chasse.

He said the Valley’s wide, straight streets lend themselves to more serious accidents because “a drunk driver thinks he is controlling himself better on them and tends to drive faster.”

In the crackdown which began Friday, ABC inspectors are warning bar owners not to serve intoxicated patrons and will cite those they find of violation of state liquor laws.

Under the State Alcoholic and Beverage Control Act, it is a misdemeanor to serve liquor to “any obviously intoxicated person.” A first-time offender is subject to a 20-day liquor license suspension or a $1,500 fine.

At the same time, police are approaching bar patrons urging them to designate one person in their group as the driver who will not drink. La Chasse said if they spot an intoxicated person, they will arrest him or her. So far, no arrests of patrons or owners have been made.

It is a misdemeanor under the state Penal Code to be “found in any public place under the influence of intoxicating liquor . . . in such a condition that he or she is unable to exercise care for his or her own safety or the safety of others.”

“We want bar patrons to know that there is heavy enforcement against potential drunk drivers,” La Chasse said.

Along with the bar inspection, Valley traffic officers will step up street patrols in search of drunk drivers, La Chasse said.