Pomona PD helps customers at bars check blood-alcohol level with educational program

POMONA, Calif. (KABC) -- Bars and restaurants will be serving up lots of drinks this weekend to customers celebrating Cinco de Mayo. In Pomona, police want people to understand how alcohol might be affecting them before they decide to drive.

Bar customer Marian Diaz voluntarily took a breath test to check her blood-alcohol level.

"You're at .083," said Officer Ruth Flores. "You're a little bit over the limit."

"It just kind of opens your eyes to ...you think you're just having one drink or two drinks, but in reality, you know, your blood-alcohol level is high and you don't even realize it," Diaz said.

Flores and Cpl. Chris Lewis frequently visit local bars as part of a DUI education program called Know Your Limit.

"We have found a lot of people who got into DUI situations or accidents who really didn't think they were driving under the influence of alcohol, and so two, three, four drinks, maybe affect people more differently than they realize," Lewis said.

The officers hand out flyers to remind customers not to get behind the wheel if their blood-alcohol level is over the legal limit of .08.

The officers say since this program began about four years ago, there has been a reduction in the number of accidents and fatalities in Pomona.

"We can't actually arrest away a DUI problem, but we can educate away a DUI problem," Lewis said.