The California Highway Patrol implemented an impaired driving task force in Santa Clarita last weekend and arrested 22 suspected DUI drivers, prompting Action Family Counseling officials to encourage residents to think twice before driving drunk this holiday weekend.

“Drunk driving accidents are one of the most preventable things we can do,” said Cary Quashen, founder and CEO of Action Family Counseling. “It’s simple– just don’t drink and drive.”

Approximately 25 CHP officers came together Saturday and Sunday night to patrol Newhall — a 674-square-mile area — as part of the impaired driving task force, according to Josh Greengard, public information officer for the Newhall CHP office.

“We bring in a bunch of officers from other areas in Southern Division and we bring them to a specific office,” Greengard said on the latest “Families in Action” show on KHTS, which Quashen hosts. “Their primary goal is not to work the beat, it’s to get drunk drivers off the road.”

On Saturday night alone, 14 DUI arrests were made, and last weekend altogether, a total of 22 DUI arrests were made, according to Greengard.

“And that’s just with the Highway Patrol,” he said, adding, “You still have your local Sheriff’s Department too.”

With the Fourth of July holiday weekend coming up, Santa Clarita residents can expect a maximum enforcement period from local authorities.

“We always have this maximum enforcement period through holiday weekends,” said Greengard. “It’s a 72-hour thing. We start from 6 p.m. Friday evening if the holiday’s on a Monday… We record all the stats, and it’s overwhelming how many (DUI arrests are made).”

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Greengard added that July 4 is one of the deadliest days of the year.

“There’s usually a lot of traffic, and there’s usually a lot of alcohol consumption,” he said.

Quashen noted that one way elected officials are attempting to prevent motorists from driving under the influence is by implementing car breathalyzer devices, also called Ignition Interlock Devices or IID’s, in vehicles of individuals who have been convicted of a DUI.  

When someone has an IID installed in their car, prior to starting the vehicle, the driver is required to blow into the device to submit a breath sample. The device measures the user’s breath alcohol level and compares it to a pre-set limit.

If their breath alcohol level is below the pre-set limit, the vehicle will start. If their breath alcohol level is at or above the pre-set level, the IID will prevent the vehicle from turning on.

“An ignition lock device was recently approved statewide for DUI-convicted drivers, but I’d like them to be installed in all cars,” said Quashen. “We’re losing people every day here in Santa Clarita. It’s such a destruction of life.”

Action Family Counseling is a Santa Clarita drug and alcohol rehab center. Action has drug and alcohol residential treatment locations in Santa Clarita, Piru and Bakersfield, as well as intensive drug and alcohol outpatient programs in Santa Clarita, Simi Valley, Ventura, Pasadena and Bakersfield. Action Family Counseling supports and reinforces changes in behavior patterns so that adolescents and adults, or clients and their families, can fully indoctrinate the philosophies and principles needed to remain abstinent and stabilized for life.

Action Family Counseling

22722 Soledad Canyon Rd.

Santa Clarita, CA 91350

Office: 661-297-8691

24-Hour Helpline: 800-367-8336