Sunday, May 28, 2006 Last modified: Sunday, May 28, 2006 12:01 AM PDT

By: Penne Usher, Journal Staff Writer

Thousands are expected to hit the highways for this weekend's Memorial Day holiday and the California Highway Patrol is out in force to catch speeders and drunk drivers.

Capt. Rick Ward of the Newcastle CHP reminds motorists to watch their speed, don't drink and drive and buckle up.

"We'll have every available officer on the roads and have added others from headquarters and the academy to help us with enforcement," Ward said Friday.

This holiday weekend, CHP officers are focusing their attention on Interstate 80, highways 65 and 49 as well as Foresthill and Auburn Folsom roads.

"Unfortunately these are the roads we have the most fatalities on," Ward said. "One way to decrease this is by saturation enforcement."

To further its efforts in slowing motorists, the CHP recently received a $12,000 radar trailer from Placer County.

Paul Jacobson, assistant civil engineer of the Placer County Division of Public Works and Transportation, had the know-how to explain the newest edition to the CHP.

The trailer has a two-digit 18-inch LED display for added visibility in direct sunlight and automatically dims at dusk to minimize glare to drivers, he said. It measures the speed of vehicles by using radar technology by displaying the speed to the motorist along with the posted legal speed limit.

"This one is more hi-tech and more compact," Jacobson said. "It's also calibrated in accordance with the International Association of Chiefs of Police as an approved radar."

This means that if the radar detects a motorist exceeding the posted speed limit and this leads to a traffic ticket, the person issued the ticket has less of a chance of disputing the citation.

"We've receive many complaints regarding speeding and reckless drivers in residential neighborhoods," Ward said.

Jim Holmes, Placer County supervisor, said the county purchased the equipment at the request of Supervisor Bruce Kranz and Capt. Ward.

"We'll let the CHP have control because of its volunteer force," Holmes said. "I can't over emphasize how important they are to the program."

CHP volunteers are responsible for placing the radar trailers in neighborhoods and areas that are prone to speeding motorists.

The CHP urges motorists to designate a driver if they intend to drink over the holiday weekend.

"We want you to play it safe, so be a sober driver, or have one," Ward said.

The Journal's Penne Usher can be reached at penneu@goldcountrymedia.com