In an effort to reduce the number of motorcycle crashes, CHP Modesto Area will deploy additional officers on Saturday, May 23 along State Route 99. Officers will look for violations by both motorcycle riders and drivers that make roads dangerous for other traffic, including unsafe speed, following too closely, unsafe lane changes, and improper turning.
Motorcycle-involved crashes in California continue to be a major concern for the California Highway Patrol. From January 2024 through December 2024, provisional statistical data revealed there were 52 injury crashes involving motorcycles and six fatal crashes involving motorcycles in the CHP Modesto jurisdiction.
Funding for these operations is provided by a grant from the Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Titled “Get Educated and Ride Safe (GEARS) VIII,” the grant funding assists the CHP in reducing deadly and serious injury crashes involving motorcycles, The CHP Modesto Area will continue to deploy additional enforcement efforts through Sept. 30, 2026.
Also due this weekend, the Modesto CHP will be conducting a DUI/Driver’s License Checkpoint on May 23, 2026, in north Modesto within the unincorporated area of Stanislaus County. Time for the checkpoint is between 8 p.m. May 23 through 2 a.m. May 24.
CHP officials said the deterrent effect of DUI checkpoints is a proven resource in reducing the number of persons killed and injured in alcohol or drug involved crashes. Research shows that crashes involving an impaired driver can be reduced by up to 20 percent when well-publicized DUI checkpoints and proactive DUI patrols are conducted routinely.
Every day, about 37 people in the United States die in drunk-driving crashes; that’s one person every 39 minutes. In 2022, 13,524 people died in alcohol-impaired driving traffic deaths. These deaths were all preventable, added the CHP. Officers will be looking for signs of alcohol and/or drug impairment with officers checking drivers for proper licensing delaying motorists only momentarily.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), checkpoints have provided the most effective documented results of any of the DUI enforcement strategies.
Nearly 90 percent of California drivers approve of DUI checkpoints.
DUI Checkpoints are placed in locations based on collision statistics and frequency of DUI arrests, affording the greatest opportunity for achieving drunk and drugged driving deterrence.
Locations are chosen with safety considerations for the officers and the public. Drivers caught driving impaired can expect the impact of a DUI arrest to include jail time, fines, fees, DUI classes, other expenses that can exceed $15,000.
Funding for this checkpoint is provided to the CHP by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, reminding everyone to ‘Report Drunk Drivers – Call 9-1-1’.
