AVOID The 12 Hits the Roads for Super Bowl Weekend

Noting that nine percent more people get hurt in alcohol-related crashes in California over Super Bowl Sunday than the average Sunday, Avoid the 12, the multi-jurisdictional crackdown in Santa Barbara County, is planning two saturation patrols on Sunday, Feb. 3.

Extra DUI cars will be on the road in Carpinteria and in Goleta from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m

“Plan for a sober designated driver before you go to watch the game with your family and friends,” said Deputy Win Smith of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, Avoid the 12 coordinator.

“If you’re the one giving the party, remember that you could be held liable if someone you served alcohol to ends up in a DUI crash,” he commented.

The California Office of Traffic Safety, which funds Avoid the 12 and 40 other similar crackdowns in the state, encourages party givers to serve a lot of food, including a variety of non-alcoholic beverages, and to stop serving alcohol at the end of the third quarter of the game.

Statistics from the California Highway Patrol show that 154 were injured in alcohol-related crashes over the 2006 Super Bowl Sunday, while 141 were hurt on an average Sunday in 2006. That is the latest year for which complete statistics are available.