''Sobriety Challenge'' to Kick Off Impaired Driving Crackdown; Sacramento, Placer, Yolo County Agencies to Step Up Holiday DUI Coverage.

Office of Traffic Safety:

WHAT:
The 9th annual Holiday Sobriety Challenge, held in connection with the
start of the state's annual DUI mobilization, targeting drunk and
impaired drivers. Local and regional media personalities will "drink
and drive" in a controlled environment to show the visual and physical
effects of impairment. This marks the first year the event will be
held in Sacramento.

The event is held in connection with Operation STAR (Statewide Traffic
Action Response), a coalition of five traffic and safety related
departments under the state Business, Transportation and Housing (BTH)
Agency aimed at reducing the number of traffic related injuries and
deaths during targeted periods of the year, particularly the winter
holiday season.

WHEN:
Friday, Dec. 16, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

(Challenge participants must bring a designated driver and report to
Raley Field Parking Lot B by 10:00 a.m.)

WHERE:
Raley Field, 400 Ballpark Drive, West Sacramento, CA 95691

WHO:
Officers from the "Avoid the Capital 12 (Sacramento County)," "Avoid
the 7 (Placer County)" and "Avoid the 8 (Yolo County)." Infineon
Raceway and the Jim Russell Racing Drivers School will host the
Holiday Sobriety Challenge at Parking Lot B, Raley Field. Speakers
include CHP Commissioner Mike Brown, Dr. David Manning, Western Region
Administrator, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; Office
of Traffic Safety Director Christopher J. Murphy, Department of
Alcoholic Beverage Control Director Jerry Jolly, Caltrans Director
Will Kempton, and Department of Motor Vehicles Chief Deputy Director
Ken Miyao.

The "Challenge" coincides with the state's annual crackdown on
impaired driving during the Winter Holiday mobilization, which begins
Dec. 16, 2005 and runs through January 2, 2006.

WHY:
Alcohol-related deaths in California numbered 1,462 in 2004, the sixth
consecutive year of increases, mirroring a national trend. Friday's
event will illustrate how alcohol consumption affects driving
performance, even at levels well below the legal limit (.08 percent).

EVENT DETAILS:
Sobriety Challenge: Participants will each be served wine or beer upon
arrival at Raley Field. After consuming a maximum of two alcoholic
beverages, testers will then be taken through a series of Field
Sobriety Tests by law enforcement officers, including a Breathalyzer
analysis, before being asked to drive around a pre-determined course
at a designated speed. They will be joined in the cars by instructors
from the Jim Russell Racing Drivers School, which is based at Infineon
Raceway in Sonoma. Instructors will grade the testers on their ability
to navigate the simple coned courses. Nearly 70 percent of those who
have taken the Challenge over the past five years have failed.