As residents brave the heavily traveled highways over the long
holiday weekend, the California Highway Patrol will respond with a
maximum enforcement period beginning Friday.
As residents brave the heavily traveled highways over the long holiday weekend, the California Highway Patrol will respond with a maximum enforcement period beginning Friday.
The local Hollister-Gilroy area CHP will have as many people working over the weekend as they can, said Officer Terry Mayes.
A total of 17 units will be patrolling the highways on Friday, with 16 units out the other three days, Mayes said.
“That’s a lot,” she said. “The most we could have if every single person was working is 21, so it’s a lot.”
The CHP is looking specifically for people who aren’t wearing a seatbelt or securing child safety seats properly, said CHP Capt. Bob Davies.
Utilizing a seatbelt is the single most preventative way of surviving an accident. Passengers riding in a cargo area of a pickup truck or camper must also be secured, he said.
“Belts prevent someone from being ejected from the back of a truck and killed or seriously injured,” Davies said.
California has one of the highest seatbelt compliance rates in the country, with 91.7 percent of motorists buckling up. The CHP’s goal is to raise the compliance rate to 92 percent, Mayes said.
“It’s a slow process to get the hold-outs,” she said. “We’re trying to keep it realistic, and we’re getting there slowly but surely.”
