The San Diego Police Department announced plans to set up a DUI and license checkpoint somewhere within the city limits on Friday night.
Officers from the traffic division will be stopping drivers between 11 p.m. Friday and 3 a.m. Sunday to check for alcohol or marijuana impairment as well as proper licensing.
Checkpoints like this are regularly announced in advance as a deterrent to people who might drink or smoke to excess and then get behind the wheel.
“The deterrent effect of high-visibility enforcement using both DUI checkpoints and DUI
saturation patrols has proven to lower the number of persons killed and injured in alcohol or
drug impaired crashes,” the department said.
The checkpoint comes as the California Highway Patrol begins “a maximum enforcement period” at 6:01 p.m. Friday and the San Diego Sheriff’s Department plans its own checkpoints in Poway on Friday night and Lemon Grove on Saturday night.
Last year deputies arrested 774 people for impaired driving in San Diego County. So far in 2021, more than 400 people have been arrested.
“I can’t stress this point enough: crashes caused by impaired driving are 100 percent preventable,” said Sheriff Bill Gore. “If you are caught driving under the influence this Independence Day weekend, you will be arrested.”
