Virginia Beach Police will increase traffic enforcement for Cinco de Mayo to catch and deter drunk driving.
The Special Operations Traffic Unit will conduct enhanced traffic safety “saturation patrols” on Thursday to identify traffic offenders and impaired drivers, the department said in a release.
In 2015, Virginia Beach Police charged 2,182 people with a DUI. There were 16 fatal crashes, of which seven involved drivers who had been drinking, according to the release.
Message boards will be reminding people to celebrate responsibly. The police department urged people to plan ahead and arrange a designated driver if they intend to drink.
Drivers who park in one of the city’s municipal lots at 2nd, 4th, 19th and 25th streets or Rudee Loop can use the city’s “Do Not Tow” program. That allows people to contact a police officer or call 757-385-5000 to have an officer dispatched to their location, where their vehicle will be documented and get a “do not tow” sticker on its windshield.
The owner can retrieve the vehicle between 8 a.m. and noon the next day. The service is free but drivers must get their sticker by 2:30 a.m.
