Monday, June 12, 2000 | 10:58 a.m.
RENO, Nev. - The Nevada and California highway patrols have launched a joint program aimed at making the Sunday drive home safer over the Sierra for thousands of Reno-Tahoe visitors.
Under their so-called GATE 17 program, the agencies will coordinate Sunday traffic enforcement operations on a busy 100-mile stretch of Interstate 80 between Reno and the Auburn, Calif., area.
The program began Sunday with NHP and CHP officers on the lookout for drunken, aggressive and speeding drivers. It also will be held two other Sundays this summer: July 23 and Aug. 6.
CHP Officer John Sattler said the experimental program would be expanded if it succeeds in cutting accidents. It got its name in part because of 17 fatalities on the stretch in 1999.
"The reason we're doing it on Sunday is that it's the busiest travel day. Everybody is coming back home from gambling in Reno and camping at Lake Tahoe," Sattler said.
"People are tired and in a rush to get home, and their concentration is not as good. We're trying to get people to slow down and take extra precautions."
Officers will focus on the interstate's westbound lanes, which draw heavier use Sundays because of northern Californians heading home after weekend visits to the Reno-Tahoe area.
The CHP and NHP each assigned an aircraft for traffic surveillance Sunday. The NHP used six officers and the CHP 15 officers.
"It's hard to say whether it's working," Sattler said. "The only way to judge is if we don't have any fatalities or major accidents.
"As far as I know, it's the first time the CHP and NHP have ever done a joint enforcement program like this, so it'll be interesting to see how it works out."
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