
PALMDALE – The Palmdale Sheriff’s Station Traffic Unit will conducting a DUI Checkpoint from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m., Friday, August 10, at an undisclosed location within the city limits.
Research shows that crashes involving alcohol drop by an average of 20 percent when well-publicized checkpoints are conducted often enough, according to a news release by the Palmdale Station.
Deputies will be contacting drivers passing through the checkpoint for signs of alcohol and/or drug impairment. Deputies will also check for proper licensing and will strive to delay motorists only momentarily. Drivers caught driving impaired can expect jail, license suspension, and insurance increases, as well as fines, fees, DUI classes, other expenses that can exceed $10,000.
“Over the course of the past three years, DUI collisions have claimed seven lives and resulted in 88 injury crashes, harming 121 of our friends and neighbors,” said Palmdale Sheriff’s Station Sergeant M. Johnston.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), checkpoints have provided the most effective documented results of any of the DUI enforcement strategies, while also yielding considerable cost savings of $6 for every $1 spent.
Checkpoints are placed in locations that have the greatest opportunity for achieving drunk and drugged driving deterrence and provide the greatest safety for officers and the public.
“Deaths from drunk and drug-impaired driving are going down in California,” said Christopher J. Murphy, Director of the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS). “But that still means that hundreds of our friends, family and co-workers are killed each year, along with tens of thousands who are seriously injured. We must all continue to work together to bring an end to these tragedies. If you see a Drunk Driver – Call 9-1-1.”
Funding for the checkpoint is provided to the City of Palmdale by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
For statewide and local Avoid DUI Task Force Campaign Enforcement Schedules for the county and Daily DUI Arrest/Fatal Stats for the county and region, visit www.californiaavoid.org.
(Information via press release from the Palmdale Station.)