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Ride along with the CHP gives first hand look at activity during Maximum Enforcement Period

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SALINAS, Calif. (KION) -- The California Highway Patrol’s maximum enforcement period is still in effect, and officers are busy on the roads. It began Friday at 6:01 p.m. and ends just before midnight tonight.

With more cars on the roads this holiday weekend, more CHP officers are right behind them.

"Distract the driving, speed, vehicle speeding, try to catch the DUI drivers or anything," CHP Officer Saul Perez said.

Perez says experience helps them spot trouble quickly.

"The more experience you have with DUI drivers, the more you're going to look for obviously, the same thing with primary collision factors, they're speeding, right? They're unaware they're driving too slow. For example, this lady right here was on her phone," said Perez.

During my ride-along with CHP, our traffic stop involved a driver texting behind the wheel.

"I saw there were two occupants, a female driving and a male passenger. So I know a little bit how many people are inside and stuff, so I'm gonna stop her before the exit on Main Street. That way, hopefully, she can take the exit and we're away from this freeway, a safe location for us to stop," said Perez.

After that incident, CHP officer Saul Perez received a call on a pursuit for a car refusing to pull over after several warnings.

"It was for a slow to yield. The individual I had activated my forward-facing red lighting as well as my siren. And it took him several miles before he realized I was behind him and decided to pull over," said Bryan Zook, an officer with the CHP.

Towards the end of my ride-along, a driver received a ticket for driving more than 10 miles over the speed limit.

Just a few feet away, another officer was pulling another car over.

"We try to work as a team, trying to make sure we reach all the requirements," said Perez.

Saul tells me there is around 12 CHP officers driving along the roads until just before midnight tonight.

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Dania Romero

Dania Romero is an reporter at KION News Channel 46.

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