During the December meeting of the Canyon Lake City Council, Lieutenant Will Edwards provided year-to-date statistics for DUIs and traffic collisions in the City of Canyon Lake.
As of December 13, the sheriff’s department received 58 calls reporting possible DUI drivers.
There were 12 DUIs in the City of Canyon Lake, six of which were on Railroad Canyon Road.
There were 12 traffic collisions on Railroad Canyon Road, including one fatality, three resulting in injury, and two related to DUI.
There were 25 traffic collisions outside of Railroad Canyon Road, including one fatality, 17 resulting in injury, five misdemeanor DUIs, and one felony DUI.
There were six golf cart collisions, five of which were DUI.
The most recent enforcement operation was conducted on December 8 from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. and resulted in 33 traffic stops, 33 field sobriety tests, and four drivers arrested for driving under the influence. Twenty-three citations were issued and four vehicles were impounded.
This operation was conducted in response to the increased number of traffic collisions involving drivers found to be under the influence of alcohol and or drugs in the City of Canyon Lake. This includes both vehicles and golf carts.
The Riverside County Sheriff’s Office was awarded a $34,358.00 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) to support ongoing enforcement and education programs to help reduce the number of serious injuries and deaths on roads in the City of Canyon Lake. The grant will provide additional programs and resources, including DUI checkpoints and patrols focused on stopping suspects impaired drivers.
The current OTS grant is good through September 30, 2024. The sheriff’s department will be conducting at least three more saturations and one DUI Checkpoint between now and then, according to Lieutenant Edwards. Only DUI Checkpoints must be posted in advance. Notice is not required for saturation patrols. The OTS grant has the potential to renew annually if applied for.
