California Highway Patrol officers will conclude the department's annual Thanksgiving maximum enforcement period at 11:59 p.m. Sunday night, where all available officers are deployed.
The department began its annual Thanksgiving maximum enforcement period at 6:01 p.m. Wednesday, with officers actively looking for unsafe driving practices, including impaired or distracted driving, speeding and vehicle occupants failing to use their seat belts.
In the first 30 hours of the maximum enforcement period, CHP officers made 314 arrests for suspicion of DUI arrests and at least eight people died in collisions on roads and highways under the CHP's jurisdiction, according to the department.
Officers from the Riverside, Blythe, Beaumont, Indio and Temecula CHP stations have conducted anti-DUI operations on inland freeways, highways and roads in Riverside County.
During last year's Thanksgiving maximum enforcement campaign, the CHP arrested 931 people statewide on suspicion of driving under the influence, compared to 1,057 during the previous Thanksgiving holiday period, a 12% decline.
A total of 59 people died in collisions on roads and highways under the CHP's jurisdiction over Thanksgiving weekend 2018.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, almost half of the vehicle passengers killed in collisions nationwide during the 2018 Thanksgiving holiday period weren't wearing seatbelts.
