Santa Monica Police Conducting Checkpoint Today

To those who are sober and just wanting to get home or get to whatever their destination, a DUI checkpoint can be a pain. Yet, studies show that well-publicized DUI checkpoints can reduce drunk driving incidents. Surf Santa Monica reports on an upcoming DUI checkpoint as well as how such checkpoints help to curb drinking and driving.

Santa Monica police will spend Friday evening conducting an operation designed to help reduce the incidence of driving while intoxicated. It will also help catch those who drive without a valid driver’s license.

The DUI-Driver’s License checkpoint will be set up at an unknown location within the city limits. It will run from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. While the checkpoint is set up, officers will be conducting lookouts for signs of intoxication and verification of driver’s license status.

Research indicates that accidents involving motorists impaired by drugs or alcohol can be reduced by up to twenty percent when there are well-publicized checkpoints set up on nights when driving under the influence may be common. Holidays and weekends are popular times for these checkpoints.

In the year 2013, DUIs caused 867 fatalities and led to more than 23,000 serious injuries. Nationally, 10,067 people were killed by drivers who were impaired. Thirty percent of those drivers had one or more drugs in their system. More drivers test positive for drugs than alcohol.  

Friday night’s checkpoint is funded by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety and paid for by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

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