With a 40 percent chance of rain on Saturday, Dec. 31 motorists will need to exercise a little more caution on the highways.

Add in to that the fact that it’s a long holiday weekend – with New Year’s Eve on Saturday and New Year’s Day on Sunday, and drivers should be very mindful of the potential dangers.

“Always the recommendation is to make sure you have a designated driver if you’re out and about” and planning to drink on New Year’s Eve, said Escalon Police Chief Mike Borges. “If you don’t have a designated driver, UBER is easy to do, download the app, get an UBER driver.”

Along with the potential injuries that could come while driving intoxicated, Borges said those that get pulled over and arrested for driving under the influence will experience pain in other ways as well.

“A typical DUI, just the offense itself with fees and school, will cost you $3,000 to $5,000 and that’s not even counting the impact you’ll see on your insurance rates,” the chief said.

Statewide, the California Highway Patrol will be on heightened alert with extra patrols for the long holiday weekend, while local departments will also be on the lookout for impaired drivers.

Statistics released Tuesday by the CHP for the Maximum Enforcement Period, MEP, which ran from Friday, Dec. 23 at 6 p.m. through Monday, Dec. 26 at 11:59 p.m. showed 16 fatal collisions in the CHP jurisdiction statewide, up from 10 in 2015.

A total of 17 lives were lost in those collisions, including 14 in vehicles, with 10 of those killed not wearing seatbelts. The CHP information also indicates that one motorcyclist and two pedestrians were killed as well. The CHP reported a total of 535 DUI arrests during the long holiday enforcement effort over the Christmas weekend, down from 608 in 2015.