DUI DRIVER'S LICENSE CHECKPOINT THIS FRIDAY
September 12, 2019 10:23 AM
Santa Monica, CA - In recent years, California has seen a disturbing increase in drug-impaired driving crashes. The Santa Monica Police Department (SMPD) supports the effort from the Office of Traffic Safety that aims to educate all drivers that “DUI Doesn’t Just Mean Booze.” If you take prescription drugs, particularly those with a driving or operating machinery warning on the label, you might be impaired enough to get a DUI. Marijuana can also be impairing, especially in combination with alcohol or other drugs, and can result in a DUI.
The Santa Monica Police Department will be conducting a DUI/Driver’s License Checkpoint on Friday September 13, 2019 at an undisclosed location within the city limits between the hours of 7:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m.
Over the past three years, SMPD officers have investigated 250 DUI collisions and made 276 DUI related arrests. Since 2016, the Santa Monica Police Department has conducted 15 DUI/Driver’s License checkpoints, have screened 14,669 vehicles and contacted 4,996 drivers during these type of operations. Forty one arrests have been made for operating a motor vehicles without a valid driver’s license.
Drivers caught driving impaired can expect the impact of a DUI arrest to include jail time, fines, fees, DUI classes, license suspensions and other expenses that can exceed $10,000 not to mention the embarrassment when friends and family find out.
Funding for this checkpoint is provided to the SMPD by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, reminding everyone to ‘Report Drunk Driver – Call 9-1-1’.
Media Contact
Candice Cobarrubias
Captain
Candice.Cobarrubias@SMGOV.NET