Starting at 6:01 p.m. Wednesday, the CHP will begin its Thanksgiving Maximum Enforcement Period during which every available officer will be on the road.

Officers will be on the lookout for all traffic violations, from DUI to speeding and more.

“Whether it’s impaired or distracted driving, speeding because you’re in a hurry or you forget to buckle up, a careless decision made in an instant can hurt a family for a lifetime,” CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow said.

Last year during a similar crackdown, the CHP made 1,536 DUI arrests, an increase of nearly 6 percent from the year before. For Sonoma County, 38 drivers were arrested on suspicion of DUI over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend last year, said Officer Jon Sloat, spokesman for the local CHP.

He said the extra enforcement will mean 80 percent of officers in each of the CHP’s stations across the state will be on duty. He said the CHP basically doesn’t allow vacations or extra days off during the Thanksgiving enforcement period and similar ones at other times during the year.

The extra CHP patrols end at 11:50 p.m. Sunday.

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