Everybody’s favorite truck-enforcement outfit hauls in drunk park ranger

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Catch more in-depth state-by-state data and analysis via this link to our CSA’s Data Trail main page, all data updated to reflect year 2013.Catch more in-depth state-by-state data and analysis via this link to our CSA’s Data Trail main page, all data updated to reflect year 2013.

In which a California State Parks ranger is called in drunk on the job, and CHP comes to the rescue … 
California truck enforcement always ranks high in the inspection-intensity rankings. Falling behind only Maryland and Pennsylvania in our 2013 numbers, the state performed 11 inspections for every lane-mile of interstate within its borders last year, and given the size of the highway network there, that’s a lot of inspections. Say what you will about the California Highway Patrol (and I know a lot of it won’t be good), but consider this: more than 55 percent of California’s inspections were totally clean, violation-free, making the California Highway Patrol statistically one of truckers’ best friends around the nation. Only Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, and North Carolina show higher percentages of clean inspections among the contiguous states.

Which brings me to the latest little bit of California law enforcement news, if you can call such. A lot of you may have seen this picture already:

Read the Lost Coast Outpost’s original story about the incident via this link.Read the Lost Coast Outpost’s original story about the incident via this link.

The photo of the ranger — note the Keystone Light in his lap — was picked up on this blog at the San Francisco Chronicle’s website and subsequently went viral quite quickly with coverage on national sites like the Huffington Post. The gentleman who took the picture, after trying unsuccessfully to wake the Ranger, reported the officer to the California Highway Patrol, who picked him up subsequently. (He’s on “administrative leave” now, reports are saying.)

CHP to the rescue? I’m inclined to give ’em a high five, for now. Jury’s still out on what role they might ultimately play in enforcing the Air Resources Board’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions rule, which EPA recently ruled CARB could get on with … Speaking of which, what have you seen to date? Is the CHP involved in CARB enforcement on the roads as yet?