DUI Checkpoint Set For The Upcoming Weekend

Posted by: KHTS FM 98.1 & AM 1220 in Santa Clarita News January 31, 2013 - 5:55 pm 0 263 Views

The Santa Clarita Valley Station Traffic Unit will be conducting a DUI Checkpoint on Friday, February 8, 2013 at an undisclosed location within the city limits between the hours of 6:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m.

Deputies will stop drivers at the checkpoint to check for proper licensing and look for signs of alcohol or drug impairment. Drivers caught driving under the influence can be subject to arrest, jail time, mandatory DUI classes, insurance increases, fines, and other expenses that can ultimately exceed $10,000. Repeat offenders may also have their license suspended.

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DUI checkpoints are a proven deterrent to alcohol and drug related motor vehicle accidents. Research shows that crashes involving alcohol drop 20 percent when well-publicized DUI checkpoints are conducted at regular intervals.

“DUI Checkpoints have been an essential part of the phenomenal reduction in DUI deaths that we witnessed since 2006 in California,” said Christopher J. Murphy, Director of the Office of Traffic Safety. “But since the tragedy of DUI accounts for nearly one third of traffic fatalities, Santa Clarita needs the high visibility enforcement and public awareness that checkpoints provide.”

In 2011, nearly 10,000 people were killed nationally in crashes that involved at least one motorist with a blood alcohol level of .08% or higher. In California, 774 deaths were recorded in alcohol or drug related traffic collisions.

Even in a small community like Santa Clarita, the results of driving under the influence can be devastating, according to Sergeant Richard Cohen of the Santa Clarita Valley Station. “Over the course of the past three years, DUI collisions have claimed 7 lives (in the SCV area) and resulted in 134 injury crashes harming 186 of our friends and neighbors,” said Cohen.

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