San Gabriel Police Department Traffic Unit will be conducting a DUI/Drivers License Checkpoint on Friday, June 1, 2012 at an undisclosed location within the city limits between the hours of  7:00 p.m. and 3:00 a.m.

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.

Officers will be contacting drivers passing through the checkpoint for signs of alcohol and/or drug impairment.

Officers will also check for proper licensing and will strive to delay motorists only momentarily. Drivers caught driving impaired can expect 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 countless lives and resulted in injury crashes harming many of our friends and neighbors,” said Police Chief David A. Lawton.

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.”

Funding for this checkpoint is 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.

Click It or Ticket to Boost Seat Belt Use – Day and Night

Motorists who refuse to wear their seat belts – beware.  The 2012 start-of-summer Click It or Ticket seat belt enforcement mobilization kicks off May 21 to help save lives by cracking down on those who don’t buckle up.

The San Gabriel Police Department is joining with other state and local law enforcement officers to help save more lives by strongly enforcing seat belt laws around the clock.  Seat belts are the most effective piece of life saving equipment on your car.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in 2010 nationally, 61 percent of the 10,647 passenger vehicle occupants who were killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes overnight were not wearing their seat belts at the time of the fatal crash, compared to 42 percent during the daytime hours.

“Too many drivers and passengers on the road at night are not wearing their seat belts, and it all too often ends in tragedy,” said Chief David A. Lawton. “Our goal is to save more lives, so the San Gabriel Police Department will be out enforcing seat belt laws around the clock.”

Seat belt use saves thousands of lives across America each year and the San Gabriel Police Department is helping spread the word. NHTSA statistics show that in 2010 alone, seat belts saved an estimated 12,546 lives nationwide.

Yet, too many motorists may need a tough reminder. In 2010, 22,187 passenger vehicle occupants were killed in motor vehicle crashes, according to NHTSA, and 51 percent of them were NOT wearing seat belts at the time of their fatal crashes.

Younger motorists and men are particularly at risk.  Data shows that among teen and young adult passenger vehicle occupants in 2010, ages 18-34, which were killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes, 62 percent were not buckled up at the time of the crash – the highest percentage of any age group.  The number jumps to 66 percent when just men in this age group are included.

While this year’s Click It or Ticket enforcement mobilization runs from May 21 through June 3, motorists should know that officers are out enforcing seat belt laws year-round.  Total costs of a first time ticket are at least $142.