Officers contacted drivers passing through the checkpoint for signs of alcohol and/or drug impairment and also checked for proper licensing. Drivers caught driving impaired faced 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 2 lives and resulted in 112 injury crashes harming 167 of our friends and neighbors,” said Sgt. Paul Dino of the Lancaster Station Traffic Detail.

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.”

Friday night, deputies from Lancaster Sheriff’s Station conducted a Sobriety and Driver’s License Checkpoint at westbound Avenue J at Genoa Avenue.

The results of the checkpoint are as follows:

Vehicles driven through the checkpoint - 830

Drivers waived through because of traffic congestion - 0

Drivers screened while in their vehicles - 830

Citations/arrests for suspended, revoked, or no driver’s license - 18

Citations issued for miscellaneous traffic violations in and around the checkpoint - 23

Drivers required to perform field sobriety tests - 9

Arrests for DUI and associated B.A. - 3

Other arrests - 2 arrests for misdemeanor warrants, 1 arrest for allowing unlicensed driver to drive

Vehicles stored or impounded - 12

Funding for the checkpoint is provided to Lancaster Sheriff’s Station by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

DUI checkpoints are a proven enforcement tool effective in reducing the number of persons killed and injured in alcohol-involved crashes. Research shows that crashes involving alcohol drop by an average of 20 percent when well-publicized checkpoints are conducted often enough.