Santa Barbara County Vintner's Festival DUI Enforcement

Lompoc

Whether you’re sipping your way through the 51 wine events of the Santa Barbara County Vintners’ Festival or hoisting a few brews at the Lompoc Spring Arts Festival’s beer garden, extra DUI patrols will have an eye out for you on Saturday, April 19.

Officers from city police departments covering Santa Barbara, Lompoc, Guadalupe and Santa Maria along with CHP, UCSB and California State Parks officers and sheriff’s deputies will staff the Avoid the 12 deployment from noon until 3 a.m.  The 22 extra officers will focus their DUI enforcement efforts on the Lompoc and Santa Ynez Valleys.

CHP officers will be stationed at the exit to River Park in Lompoc, said Sgt. Mike Mullen of the Buellton Area Command.

Avoid the 12 is the countywide anti-DUI crackdown that gets its name from the dozen law enforcement agencies in the county, said Deputy Win Smith, campaign coordinator. The California Office of Traffic Safety funds it through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

“The designated driver is the key to having a lot of fun but staying out of a world of trouble,” he said.

“Appoint yours a few days before, not after you start drinking, because good judgment is the first victim of alcohol. Remember that the designated driver is the one who stays stone-cold sober all day and night, not the one who’s had the least to drink.”

Smith reported 77 car stops, 16 DUI investigations and four arrests during last year’s event. He was pleased at the number of limousines and buses on the road and the plethora of designated drivers. Sgt. Sandra Brown of the Sheriff’s Dept. has trained many members of winery staffs in how to prevent over-serving and DUI driving.

Avoid the 12 will run a four-day DUI crackdown over the long Memorial Day weekend.