San Gabriel, CA – San Gabriel Police Department Traffic Unit conducted a DUI/Drivers License checkpoint on Saturday, January 15 at an undisclosed location within the city limits between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. DUI checkpoints are a proven enforcement tool effective in reducing the number of persons killed and injured in alcohol involved crashes, as well as being a valuable means for heightening awareness of the dangers of impaired driving.

Officers checked drivers through the checkpoint for signs of alcohol and/or drug impairments. Officers checked for proper licensing and strived to impact motorists only momentarily. If officers hüpfburg mit rutsche suspect that a driver has been drinking or is impaired, they will conduct a field sobriety test. If you fail, expect jail, vehicle storage fees, license suspension, insurance rate increases, along with fines, fees, DUI classes, and other expenses that can exceed $10,000.

“All too often, members of our community are senselessly injured or killed on local roadways by impaired drivers. This careless disregard for human life must stop,” said San Gabriel Police Chief David A. Lawton. “These DUI/Drivers License checkpoints are an effort to reduce those tragedies, as well as ensure that drivers have a valid license.”

Statewide, overall traffic deaths declined by 23 percent, from 3,995 in 2007 to 3,081 in 2009. Total traffic fatalities are at their lowest levels in six decades, when the federal government began compiling figures. DUI deaths declined by 16 percent, from 1,132 in 2007 to 950 in 2009, according to federal statistics. Alcohol impaired deaths still make up the largest category of overall vehicle fatalities in 2009, with 31 percent of all deaths caused by a drunk or impaired driver.

“Everyone in California should be heartened with these figures,” said Christopher J. Murphy, Director of the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS). “But as encouraging as this is, we can’t let up on the efforts to encourage and support traffic safety. You can help make your community safe; if you see a Drunk Driver Call 9- l – l.”

Funding for this and other DUI checkpoints are provided to San Gabriel Police Department by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, targeting those who still don’t heed the message to designate a sober driver.