SANTA MONICA—The Santa Monica Police Department will be conducting a DUI/Driver License Checkpoint on Friday, April 20 at an undisclosed location within city limits. The Checkpoint will transpire between the hours of 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. The SMPD indicated that the Checkpoint is a result of a rise of drug-impaired driving crashes. The SMPD is in support of a new effort by the California Office of Traffic Safety that is aiming to educate all drivers that “DUI Doesn’t Just Mean Booze.”
Operating machinery or driving while taking prescription drugs can impair individuals. Marijuana can impair individuals when combined with alcohol or other drugs, and can result in a DUI.
In California, alcohol involved collisions led to over 1,155 deaths and close to 24,000 serious injuries in 2014. Over the past three years SMPD officers have investigated 163 DUI collisions which have claimed 2 lives and resulted in 56 injuries.
Drivers are asked to download the Designated Driver VIP, or “DDVIP,” free mobile app for Android or iPhone. The DDVIP app helps find nearby bars and restaurants that feature free incentives for the designated sober driver, from free non-alcoholic drinks to free appetizers and more. The feature-packed app has social media tie-ins and even a tab for the non-DD to call Uber, Lyft or Curb.
Motorists 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 surpass $10,000.
Funding for this checkpoint is provided to the Santa Monica Police Department 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’.
