Drunken driving: 32 arrested Drunken driving: 32 arrested (December 22, 2004)

It's been busy for local police on the lookout for people who drink and drive. Police logs show Menlo Park officers making 20 drunken-driving arrests over the 10 days ending December 19, while Atherton police have arrested 12.

A Saturday night sobriety checkpoint on Marsh Road near U.S. 101 netted the Menlo Park police five drunken-driving arrests, along with one arrest on narcotics charges and nine for driving without a license, police said.

The checkpoints are part of San Mateo County's annual "Avoid the 23" campaign, in which officers from the county's 23 law enforcement agencies cooperate in cracking down on drinking drivers.

The "Avoid" campaigns run from Friday, December 17, to Saturday, January 2, and involve 125 law enforcement agencies throughout the Bay Area. The Marsh Road sobriety checkpoint was one of 10 in the Bay Area on December 18, said Officer Mike Wright of the California Highway Patrol.

A first-time arrest and conviction for misdemeanor drunken driving -- an incident in which no one is injured -- will result in a suspension of the driver's license, time in jail, three to five years of probation, and expenses between $5,000 and $10,000 in fines, lawyer fees, and insurance penalties, according to a CHP brochure.

The CHP advises partygoers who drink to arrange for a designated driver or a taxi cab for the trip home. To find the CHP brochure, enter the words "sobriety" and "CHP" on a Web search engine.

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