Don’t drink and drive or you will be caught — that’s the message from the Santa Monica Police Department.
SMPD Sgt. Richard Lewis said a DUI/Driver’s License Checkpoint will be held on Monday, Dec. 31 at an undisclosed location within the city limits.
Lewis said the checkpoint was part of an ongoing campaign to reduce the number of persons killed and injured in alcohol involved crashes.
“DUI checkpoints are conducted to identify offenders and remove them from the street, as well as bring awareness to our community of the dangers of impaired driving,” Lewis said.
Officers will be contacting drivers passing through the checkpoint looking for signs of alcohol and/or drug impairment. Drivers caught driving impaired can expect jail, license suspension, and insurance increases, as well as fines, fees, DUI classes, court probation, and other expenses that can exceed $10,000.
Santa Monica Police Lieutenant Jay Trisler said all too often, members of the community are senselessly injured or killed on local roadways by impaired drivers.
“Over the course of the past year, traffic collisions involving impaired drivers/riders were involved in 86 collisions, which have killed two and injured 26 people,” Trisler said.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 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.