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Published on 08/28/1995 All articles from this issue

Los Altos police gearing up for Labor Day's Avoid the 13

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By Joanne Griffith Domingue / Town Crier Staff Writer

The Los Altos Police Department will have an extra patrol car on duty Friday through evenings over Labor Day weekend, from 8 p.m. to 3 a.m., looking exclusively for drinking drivers.

"That additional patrol car won't be responding to any other calls during that time," said Los Altos Police Sgt. John Hughmanick.

The Los Altos Police are part of the Avoid the 13 program sponsored by the 13-plus law enforcement agencies in Santa Clara County that work together over holiday weekends to curb drinking and driving.

"It's been quite successful over the 22 years it has been in operation," Hughmanick said. "There has been a decrease in driving under the influence incidents."

There will not be a specific check-point in Los Altos as there was for the July 4 holiday. The nearest check-point to Los Altos will be in Palo Alto on University Avenue.

"Labor Day weekend is the most deadly of all the six long holiday weekends," said Gilroy Police Chief Roy Sumisaki, chairman of Avoid the 13.

In 1993, the most recent year for which statistics are available, 27 Californians died on that weekend. Labor Day weekend came in second only to July 4 for the number of people hurt in DUI collisions, 689 to 639.