Happy New Year Santa Ana – no SAPD DUI checkpoints this weekend

The Santa Ana Police Department’s (SAPD) Public Information Officer, Anthony Bertagna, and Santa Ana Chief of Police Paul Walters both confirmed today, via email, that the SAPD is not going to be conducting any DUI checkpoints this weekend.

Now that doesn’t mean that our residents and out of town visitors should get drunk and drive on New Year’s Eve, but it does mean that our residents who don’t have documents can feel free to drive without having to worry about their cars being impounded.

If you do get wasted this New Year’s Eve there is good news.  The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) is providing free bus rides between 6 p.m. on New Year’s Eve, Dec. 31 and 2:30 a.m. on New Year’s Day, Jan. 1.

And the AAA is offering their Tipsy Tow service, which provides a complimentary ride and vehicle tow up to seven miles from the point of pickup to drivers who have consumed alcohol on New Year’s Eve and the Fourth of July. Tipsy Tow service is available to members and non-members. Ask for a Tipsy Tow by calling 1-800-400-4222.

If you do see a drunk driver be sure to call the SAPD at (714) 245-8665 or you can dial 911.

And please remind your family and friends that it is not cool to shoot firearms off in the air on New Year’s Eve.  When the bullets come down they can hurt or kill innocent people!

Art Pedroza Editor
Our Editor, Art Pedroza, worked at the O.C. Register and the OC Weekly and studied journalism at CSUF and UCI. He has lived in Santa Ana for over 30 years and has served on several city and county commissions. When he is not writing or editing Pedroza specializes in risk control and occupational safety. He also teaches part time at Cerritos College and CSUF. Pedroza has an MBA from Keller University.
Art Pedroza

Our Editor, Art Pedroza, worked at the O.C. Register and the OC Weekly and studied journalism at CSUF and UCI. He has lived in Santa Ana for over 30 years and has served on several city and county commissions. When he is not writing or editing Pedroza specializes in risk control and occupational safety. He also teaches part time at Cerritos College and CSUF. Pedroza has an MBA from Keller University.

View Comments

  • AAA will also take you and your car home free whether you are a member or not. We wo 't discuss the illegal alien thing.

  • "Now that doesn’t mean that our residents and out of town visitors should get drunk and drive on New Year’s Eve, but it does mean that our residents who don’t have documents can feel free to drive without having to worry about their cars being impounded"...... Hmmmmmm

    Latino:

    When we woke up, the sun was shining in our eyes
    The silver spurs were gone, my head felt twice its size
    She took my silver spurs, a dollar and a dime
    And left us craving for.....more summer wine
    Ohhh..summer wine...

    Bumper:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpyZo7NTrSE

    • No one should drink and drive, irrespective of their citizenship status. Why don't you go by Downtown SA tonight? You'll see a lot of drunks - and very few Latinos.

    • Many have John. And sad to say they are returning to a Mexico ruined by American's insatiable appetite for illegal drugs. And the guns killing Mexicans? Most illegal guns in Mexico come from American gun dealers.

  • Doesn't the US accept foreign driver's licenses? Essentially, the illegal alien simply needs to have their current DL from their current country of citizenship. If I drive in another country, the other country will usually accept it. Those here without DL, just need to be current in their country of citizenship...Those, those that are unwilling to do that, well that is trouble. Happy New Year to all!

  • Why can’t Mexican’s own guns for self protection?

    And I thought you were one of those “make drugs legal” guys?

  • "Doesn’t the US accept foreign driver’s licenses?"..... Hmmmmmm

    Not really!

    The US jurisdiction regarding the DL varies state to state.

    In the California if you have out of state DL you have 30 days to get California one!

    However, you can probably use valid Mexican DL if you would have AAA international certificate which is good as long as the visa is good.

    So no passport, no visa, no Mexican DL.

    Question is would AAA issue international certificate based on the Mexican Matricula Consular ID card and if the card is accepted by the COP the DL must be accepted too.

    But I do not think that Mexican Affirmative Action Educated Attorneys are qualified to figure that one out.

  • I should add that you can get the International DL Certificate in your native country providing that it is a part of appropriate international treaty in which case the Mexican Consulate should be able to issue the International DL Certificate based on valid Mexican DL if they are a part of such treaty.

  • In addition the US car insurance is not valid in Mexico. You must purchase one before you cross the border.

  • Thanks for the info Stanley...I guess I was missing the point about them being CA residents and therefore supposed to get one here, but they can't- it comes down to whether they are residents here in the US (i.e. if you are just visiting here, you do not need a CA DL in 30-days). However, I imagine that a current out of country DL is better than none. Int'l DL Cert looks like the way to go. In most cases, and correct me if I am wrong and make sure to use the hmmmmm to add emphasis, I believe the insurance is carried on a car by car basis, so the owner of the car has to have the insurance and not the actual driver. I know this from personal experience with another driver of my car denting someone else's car and my insurance covering. So, as long as the car owner has insurance valid in the US, it should be OK regardless of whether the driver has insurance or not, but maybe there is a requirement to onlly have licensed drivers drive the car.

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