Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Traffic Services Detail will be conducting a DUI/drivers license checkpoint on Friday at an undisclosed location in West Hollywood between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m.
Locations of DUI checkpoints are based on collision statistics and frequency of DUI arrests, and are chosen with safety considerations for the officers and the public.
Officers will be looking for signs of alcohol and/or drug impairment, with officers checking drivers for proper licensing, delaying motorists only momentarily. When possible, specially trained officers will be available to evaluate those suspected of drug-impaired driving, which now accounts for a growing number of impaired driving crashes.
Studies of California drivers have shown that 30% of those in fatal crashes had one or more drugs in their systems. A study of active drivers showed more tested positive for drugs that may impair driving (14%) than did for alcohol (7.3%). Of the drugs, marijuana was most prevalent, at 7.4%, slightly more than alcohol.
DUI checkpoints and patrols have proven to lower the number of persons killed and injured in alcohol or drug impaired crashes. Research shows that crashes involving an impaired driver can be reduced by up to 20% when well-publicized DUI operations are conducted routinely.
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.
In recent years, California has seen an increase in drug-impaired driving crashes. The L.A. County Sheriff’s Department supports the new effort from the Office of Traffic Safety to educate 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.
