DUI/Driver License Checkpoint Coming Up In Santa Monica

SANTA MONICA, CA — The Santa Monica Police Department will be conducting a DUI/Driver’s License Checkpoint on Friday, August 23, at an undisclosed location within the city between 7 p.m. and 3 a.m., SMPD announced Tuesday.

SMPD supports the Office of Traffic Safety, which aims to educated drivers that "DUI Doesn't Just Mean Booze." Prescription drugs, particularly those with a driving or operating machinery warning on the label, can make drivers impaired enough to get a DUI, the press release said. Marijuana can also be impairing, especially combined with alcohol or other drugs, and can result in a DUI.

"In recent years, California has seen a disturbing increase in drug-impaired driving crashes," the SMPD press release said. "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.