Jalisco’s 8-year-old “Salvando Vidas” campaign, which seeks to curb drunk-driving with strict measures such as random breathalyzer stops, has turned up the heat on inebriated motorists from a simmer to a boil, just in time for the year’s most besotted season.
From December 12 to January 6, the department has decided not to limit traffic stops to nights. Instead, transit officers will conduct alcohol-level tests under the glare of the sun, as well.
The rationale is that the frequency of driving under the influence has its most dramatic spike during what is known as the Guadalupe-Reyes period, between the Fiesta of the Virgen de Guadalupe, December 12, and Dia de los Reyes, January 6. The calendar days crowded between these two Catholic holiday brackets are traditionally spent not only (theoretically) in pious worship, but also deep in one’s cups. Between traditional and non-traditional posadas, office parties and family gatherings, the season is chock-full of excuses to drink, and not always at night.
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