CHP's Christmas Maximum Enforcement Period starts Friday night

As Californian's hit the road this holiday weekend to celebrate, the California Highway Patrol will begin their Christmas Maximum Enforcement Period.

This holiday enforcement effort is designed to keep drivers safe as more people hit the road to celebrate with their loved ones.

The MEP begins on Friday at 6 p.m. and will end on Christmas Day at 11:59 p.m.

The main focus of this effort is to enforce speed limits but also to watch out for signs of impaired drivers.

According to the National Highway Safety Administration 781 people died in Dec. 2016 due to impaired-driving related collisions. 23 people died inside of CHP's jurisdiction and 621 were arrested for DUI.