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

  • "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"....... Hmmmmmm

    The assumption is mother of all fups!

    One of the biggest assumptions travelers make is that their U.S. auto insurance will cover them if they are involved in an accident in Mexico. That's not true.

    http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/0730biz-global0730.html

  • Stanley- I was not referring to driving in Mexico. I was referring to driving in the US. If the car is insured in the US, I believe that no matter who is driving it in the US, they will also be insured as long as driving in the US. My bigger point is two fold:
    1. Illegals still can (and should) have a DL, just not a CA DL. There are alternatives from their country of origin.
    2. Persons who do not have a CA DL, can still (and should) have insurance...just have a legal resident get it on the auto.

    If you go to another country to drive, you need to check your own insurance policy as you state. Mexico is much more difficult while Canada is not. CAN was no issue at all the last time I drove there. MEX was a notification and a few bucks to my insurance carrier, although now I doubt that I would even want to drive in MEX at all.

  • My wife was rear ended by a young man a month ago here in Santa Ana.

    They pulled over and exchanged info, but she called me cause he did not speak English and there was diff names on each doc he supplied.

    When I got there the young mans relative was there to translate and help.

    His license was from a foreign country and it expired 2 years ago, the registration was current and in the relatives name, the insurance paper was a receipt from a tow company (no insurance).

    It didn’t look good, my wife offered a cash settlement for all claims, but the other party thought it was too much and opted to file a police report.

    After the cops got there, 3 cars and 2 cycles, they got all the information from my wife and told her to leave.

    The tow truck was pulling up as we left. I bet you can guess how that story ended.

  • "Stanley- I was not referring to driving in Mexico"...... Hmmmmmm

    I do not know wher is the confusion, I have clearly stated:

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

    Cook:

    You must have uninsured motorist insurance too!

    In the Small Claims court the car damage claim is up to $10,000, I believe, so sue.

  • Stanley- I was not directly referring to your prior insurance comment. I know you were referring to driving in MEX, however I was not. I was more generally referring to the perceived problem that unlicensed drivers can't have insurance in the US and therefore should have the right to have a license in the US. I do see where the confusion arose and wish I would have used different wording..super apologies- I guess my proofreading skills are lacking as a new poster.

  • TJLocalSA,

    It is very simple to purchase car insurance in the California without DL. Even month to month.

    Same like IRS does not require any SSN they will give you TAX number if you ask for one so does not insurance company.

    The problem is that most of illegal immigrants have no DL or any documents like Passport from their native country.

    You are dealing with really uneducated people who can't legally navigate themselves within the society and, therefore, must rely on the underground forces.

  • Good to know from both of you...obviously, my family or I do not have this problem (i.e. residents, citizens, documented, insured, and over-insured). I always heard that getting US insurance was a reason as to why we should allow illegals to get CA DL's. My presumptions were that they can maintain their DL in their country of origin (despite the CA law about residents changing to CA DL's- one is better than none) and that they can just have someone else insure the car. Knowing that they can get US insurance without a CA DL just blows one of those reasons out...

    Thanks!

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