Today, focusing on keeping drunk drivers off the road this holiday season, the California District Attorney's Association (CDAA) launched a statewide campaign to combat drunk driving dubbed "Make it Home for the Holidays." In their first statewide coordinated effort, the CDAA has organized prosecutors across the state to hold media events discussing cracking down on drunk drivers and providing education and training to prosecutors throughout California from a grant awarded to CDAA from the Office of Traffic Safety (OTS).

Tulare County District Attorney Phil Cline, who serves on the Board of Directors of California District Attorney's Association stated: "We feel that this is an issue that is ripe for a statewide unified effort by prosecutors. It will assist many offices that do not have the resources necessary to effectively focus on making a real difference in the enforcement of these important laws. Our goal is more than to just hold the line. We want to see a reduction in the number of DUI cases which we know will lead to a reduction in Traffic Fatalities."

The grant was awarded to Sacramento County District Attorney Jan Scully's office that is contracting with the CDAA to provide the services to implement the grant. The grant, awarded by OTS through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), will fund a program to break the state into 5 regions with a Traffic Safety Resource Prosecutor assigned to each region. The Traffic Safety Resource Prosecutor will provide education and training to prosecutors across their region with the goal of cutting down drunk driving in order to ultimately reduce traffic fatalities.

"This is a huge opportunity for District Attorneys and all prosecutors to hold people accountable who partake in this dangerous behavior," said Jan Scully, Sacramento County District Attorney and Immediate Past President of CDAA. "The bottom line is that far too many people die every day because of irresponsible and easily avoidable behavior. We now have more resources to better train prosecutors to hold these offenders accountable for their reckless behavior."

"The statistics speak loud and clear," Dave LaBahn, Executive Director of the CDAA, said. "In 2005 alone, there were 1,719 alcohol related fatalities in California accounting for over 40% of all traffic related fatalities. This is an epidemic and we must work together to come to find the best way to combat this widespread problem."

The California District Attorneys Association includes all 58 elected district attorneys as well as thousands of prosecutors throughout California. For more information, please call Dave LaBahn, CDAA Executive Director, at (916) 443-2017 or Mitch Zak at (916) 612-0979.