LASD WeHo Reports Traffic Accidents Due to DUI, Speed, or Distracted Driving

A dramatic video posted on the official LASD WeHo social media accounts shows the aftermath after a car veered off on Santa Monica Boulevard and onto the median, taking out a pole, a boulder, and causing some serious damage to the vehicle.

The accident happened at the U turn intersection by Hancock Drive heading east.

“Our traffic units at #WeHo Station were busy today,” reads a post by LASD WeHo. “There were a few traffic accidents where alcohol, speed or distracted driving were factors in the collisions.

Please Slow Down
Don’t Drink and Drive AND
Put Your Phones Down

#proactivepolicing
#DUI
#itcanwait #SlowDown”

https://twitter.com/WHDLASD/status/1475343758006784002

The City of West Hollywood, its City Council, and its Public Safety Commission joined with the West Hollywood Station of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Fire Stations 7 and 8 of the Los Angeles County Fire Department, and West Hollywood Block by Block Security Ambassadors to remind community members about an important message of safety during the holidays: don’t drink (or use) and drive.

The city pointed the sobering statistics from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) about the dangers of driving under the influence (DUI) in a press release earlier this month. Each day, 29 people in the United States die in motor vehicle crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver; more than one-million drivers are arrested yearly for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics; and marijuana users are approximately 25 percent more likely to be involved in a crash than drivers with no evidence of marijuana use.

Driving under the influence is never okay and driving under the influence of cannabis carries the same DUI designation as alcohol.

The West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station’s Entertainment Policing Team (EPT) is a team of Sheriff’s Deputies who are primarily focused on entertainment- and alcohol-related law enforcement issues in the City. On a nightly basis, the EPT actively patrols approximately 60 bars, nightclubs, and hotels, and liaises with management of nightlife establishments to build and maintain cooperative working relationships and to stay informed and address concerns. Together, the Sheriff’s Station and the City’s Code Compliance Division work with the Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) to educate businesses and work collaboratively on alcohol-related issues.

The West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station has issued the following safety tips:

• Even one drink can impair your judgment and increase the risk of getting arrested for driving drunk — or worse, the risk of having a crash while driving.
• If you will be drinking or using marijuana, do not plan on driving. Plan ahead: designate a sober driver before the party begins. A designated driver is someone who hasn’t had any alcohol or marijuana, not just the person who drank or smoked the least.
• If you have been drinking or using marijuana, do not drive. Call a taxi, phone a sober friend or family member, use a ride share service or public transportation, or call one of your local sober ride home programs.
• Be responsible. If someone you know is impaired, do not let that person get behind the wheel, and do not accept a ride with an impaired person.
• If you see an impaired driver on the road, contact law enforcement. Your actions may save someone’s life, and inaction could cost a life.