KHTS Radio Santa Clarita Radio – Santa Clarita News
Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station deputies made two DUI arrests in a DUI/ Driver’s License Checkpoint Friday night, officials said Monday.
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More than 3,000 cars went through the DUI checkpoint on Railroad Avenue and Carl Court, said Sgt. Richard Cohen with the SCV Sheriff’s Station.
LASD DUI/ Driver’s License Checkpoint News Release
The deterrent effect of DUI checkpoints is a proven resource in reducing the number of persons killed and injured in alcohol or drug involved crashes. Research shows that crashes involving an impaired driver can be reduced by up to 20 percent when well-publicized DUI checkpoints and proactive DUI patrols are conducted routinely.
In California, this deadly crime led to 802 deaths in 2012 because someone failed to designate a sober driver. Nationally, the latest data shows nearly 10,000 were killed by an impaired driver.
“Over the course of the past three years in the contract cities policed by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, DUI collisions have claimed 33 lives and resulted in 898 injury crashes harming 1330 of our friends and neighbors,” said Sgt. Daniel A. Dail of Traffic Services Detail.
Deputies will be looking for signs of alcohol and/or drug impairment with officers checking drivers for proper licensing delaying motorists only momentarily. When possible, specially trained officers will be available to evaluate those suspected of drug-impaired driving. Recent statistics reveal that 30 percent of drivers in fatal crashes had one or more drugs in their systems. A study of active drivers showed more tested positive for drugs that may impair driving (14 percent) than did for alcohol (7.3 percent). Of the drugs, marijuana was most prevalent, at 7.4 percent, slightly more than alcohol.
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. Nearly 90 percent of California drivers approve of DUI checkpoints.
DUI Checkpoints are placed in locations based on collision statistics and frequency of DUI arrests affording the greatest opportunity for achieving drunk and drugged driving deterrence. Locations are chosen with safety considerations for the officers and the public.
Drivers caught driving impaired can expect the impact of a DUI arrest to include jail time, fines, fees, DUI classes, other expenses that can exceed $10,000 not to mention the embarrassment when friends and family find out.
Funding for these operations is provided to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, reminding everyone to ‘Report Drunk Drivers – Call 9-1-1.
AS A DRIVER, PLAN AHEAD WITH THESE TIPS:
Arrange rides home for your friends, family, co-workers and yourself before the drinking begins.
Identify and provide free non-alcoholic drinks or other promotional items to the Designated Driver.
Party hosts and servers must limit drinks to your guests or patrons. Don’t serve more than one or two over several hours.
Cut back on the amount of drinks you plan to bring to the party – and provide plenty of food.
Do you have a news tip? Call us at (661) 298-1220, or drop us a line at [email protected].
Oh bolonie! Well publicized checkpoints do nothing but lessen the amount of people caught there simply because they avoid that specified area! Period! Anything else they tell you is complete BS! Wasting resources and throwing them in one basket is lazy and just stupid! You’d catch SO many more scufflaws just by patrolling and keeping an eye out for telltale signs. Patrolling nearby bars known for serving too much alcohol like Schooners, Oggi’s, and so many other spots would be a lot more productive in catching drunks than these near useless checkpoints that produce little results time after time! If they really wanna get drunks, that’s the way to do it! I seriously doubt they care because you don’t have to be the sharpest crayon in the box to see how they can do better! It’s just lip service is all it is! SO many people I know drink way too much and drive a good distance home all the time and never get a 502! Step it up and be more pro-active and maybe save some lives here for crying out loud! I’m a home-owner and tax payer here locally, and it sucks the way the Sheriffs do nothing about drinking and drugs while driving here. It used to be years ago, people always knew not to drink and drive in this town because they were afraid the relentless Sheriffs had zero tolerance, would catch them, and they’d get busted! It’s all a joke nowadays and nobody’s afraid of getting caught anymore! It pisses me off and I’d like to see things turn around again and have this town be safer!
Randy, when did you duplicate all the research done by all the universities, states, and other countries that refuted all their findings from the past twenty years? It’s all there for you, nicely wrapped up in a couple of meta-analysis studies compiled by the CDC.
DUI Checkpoints vs. DUI Patrols – two different tactics with two different expected outcomes.
Patrols are meant to catch active drunks, get them off the streets and prosecute them. Checkpoints are highly visible, highly publicized events meant to deter drinking and driving in the first place.
Patrols have little deterrent value, but high enforcement value. Checkpoints have been shown to have the potential to lower DUI fatality rates by up to 20 percent by virtue of their deterrence. People go through them, drive past them, hear about them via multiple grapevines and get the ongoing impression that drunk driving is dangerous, socially unacceptable, and that law enforcement is actively looking for it.
They are both good tactics and both should be in the arsenal of DUI combating tactics, along with others. In terms of catching drunks, nothing beats patrols. In terms of saving lives, nothing beats checkpoints.
Ok, so how many drivers license infractions were discovered…. Let’s have the whole report.