Police Plan DUI Checkpoint for Thanksgiving Weekend

By the Redwood City Police Department

The Redwood City Police Department Traffic Unit will be conducting a DUI Checkpoint over the Thanksgiving weekend, on Saturday, Nov. 24, at undisclosed locations within the city limits between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m.

The checkpoint will be mobile and will move between multiple locations within the city, operating for several hours at each location. 

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 alcohol drop by an average of 20 percent when well-publicized checkpoints are conducted often enough. 

Officers will be contacting drivers passing through the checkpoint for signs of alcohol and/or drug impairment, and will strive to delay motorists only momentarily. When possible, specially trained officers will be available to evaluate those suspected of drug-impaired driving.

Drivers caught driving impaired can expect jail, license suspension, and insurance increases, as well as fines, fees, DUI classes and other expenses that can exceed $10,000. 

In 2010, over 10,000 people were killed nationally in motor vehicle traffic crashes that involved at least one driver or motorcycle rider with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08% or higher.

In California, this deadly crime led to 791 deaths because someone failed to designate a sober driver.

"Over the course of the past three years, DUI collisions in Redwood City resulted in 51 injury crashes, harming 76 of our friends and neighbors,” said Sgt. Ashley Osborne. 

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.

Based on collision statistics and frequency of DUI arrests, DUI Checkpoints are placed in locations that have the greatest opportunity for achieving drunk and drugged driving deterrence. Locations are chosen with safety considerations for the officers and the public. 

"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, Redwood City needs the high visibility enforcement and public awareness that checkpoints provide." 

Funding for this weekend's checkpoint is provided to the Redwood City Police Department by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, reminding everyone to continue to work together to bring an end to these tragedies.

If you see a drunk driver – call 9-1-1. 

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