DUI, Drivers License Checkpoint Planned For the Weekend in Rohnert Park

Rohnert Park Public Safety Officers will be conducting a DUI/Drivers License Checkpoint on Saturday, Sept. 22, 2012 at an undisclosed location within the city limits between the hours of 7 p.m. and 1 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 Saturday evening 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.

“We hope to educate the community that driving buzzed will not be tolerated. With the campus community growing every year, we hope to educate them before they make an irreversible decision,” said Sgt Aaron Johnson.

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 the Santa Rosa 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.

Info from Rohnert Park Public Safety Department.

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