SANTA MONICA—The Santa Monica Police Department will be conducting a DUI/Driver’s License Checkpoint on Friday, May 3 at an undisclosed location in the region between the hours of 7 p.m. and 3 p.m.
According to a press release from the SMPD, the state of California has seen an increase in drug-impaired driving crashes. The Santa Monica Police Department supports the effort from the Office of Traffic Safety which is focused on educating all drivers that “DUI Doesn’t Just Mean Booze.”
For those who take prescription drugs, driving or operating a vehicle while impaired can result in a DUI. Marijuana can also cause impairment, when it is combined with alcohol or other drugs, and can result in a DUI.
In 2014, alcohol involved collisions led to 1,155 deaths and nearly 24,000 serious injuries in the state of California. In the past three years, officers from the SMPD investigated 163 DUI collisions, where two of those incidents killed 2 people and injured 56 others.
Drivers caught driving impaired can be arrested for a DUI, which includes 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 the 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.’
