ORANGE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA (BNO NEWS) – An anti-DUI task force had been created this holiday season in Orange County, California to help prevent avoidable deaths and injuries, stated local authorities Tuesday.

In response to the staggering deaths of previous years caused by drivers under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs, the “Avoid the 38” Multi-Agency DUI Task Force has been established by local and state police.

This seventeen day holiday campaign to keep the local streets and highways free from preventable drunk driving deaths and injuries, and Sunday marks the end of this campaign, stated Sheriff-Coroner of Orange Country Sandra Hutchens.

DUI checkpoints and roving DUI patrols have been set up by Orange County Law Enforcement. So far, 205 drivers have been arrested for driving under the influence by the task force and twelve DUI related injuries have been reported. There have been no DUI related fatalities.

In 2008, 1,029 people were killed and 28,457 injured in California due to highway crashes involving a driver or motorcycle rider with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or higher.

Local police, Sheriff, and CHP encourage everybody to help make communities safer this upcoming New Year’s weekend by reporting drunk drivers.

Authorities ask people to call 911 when they see a car swerving, speeding, driving too slowly, braking for no reason, driving with no headlights on at night, or signaling one way and turning the other.

The “Avoid the 38” task force is funded by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

If you would like to find out more about the Avoid Program and other plans from around the region, please visit www.CaliforniaAvoid.org.

Statistical data on the number of DUI arrests and fatal crashes will be released about the previous day’s activities throughout the holiday weekend.