Cadres of Jalisco traffic police returned to the Chapala area on Saturday, August 2 to continue the Salvando Vidas (Saving Lives) program aimed at catching motorists who drive while under the influence of alcohol.
On this occasion separate checkpoints were set up along the Chapala-Guadalajara highway outside Ixtlahuacán de los Membrillos and on the Chapala-Jocotepec highway at El Chante, operating simultaneously between 7 p.m. and midnight. During that period a total of 1,106 breathalyzer tests were applied at random to drivers heading out from lakeside towards the metro area.
Officers issued tickets to 20 drivers who tested slightly above the legal limit at 0.25 to 0.40 milligrams of alcohol per liter of aspirated air. Another 20 whose alcohol levels exceeded 0.41 mg/lit were loaded into government vans for transport to the Centro Urbano de Retención Vial por Alcoholimetría (CURVA) drunk driver detention center in Zapopan to sit out 12 to 36 hours under administrative arrest.
Under Jalisco’s tough new regulations against drunk drivers, the fine for driving under the influence ranges from 150 to 200 times the daily minimum wage, currently equivalent to about 10,000 to 13,500 pesos. Drivers sent to the CURVA may also face towing and storage costs incurred with the confiscation of their vehicles, along with all the requisite red tape involved.
Lakeside area traffic department commander Pedro García points out that the fundamental purpose of Salvando Vidas is to deter motorists from driving while intoxicated, rather than to collect state revenue. He suggests that folks who booze up while visiting the area lakeside would do better to book a hotel room and drive home sober the next day instead of risking a costly economic sanction, or worse still, put lives at stake by provoking an accident.