DUI Checkpoint Coming In Newport Beach

NEWPORT BEACH, CA – The Newport Beach Police Department Traffic Division will conduct a DUI/driver license checkpoint from 8 p.m. Friday to 2:30 a.m. on Saturday at an undisclosed location in the city.

"In recent years, California has seen a disturbing increase in drug-related impaired driving crashes," the Newport Beach Police Department said, adding that the new effort from the Office of Traffic Safety is to educate all drivers that “DUI Doesn’t Just Mean Booze.”

"If you take prescription drugs, particularly those with a warning about driving or operating machinery on the label," police said, "you might be impaired enough to be arrested for DUI. Marijuana can also be impairing (especially when used in combination with alcohol or other drugs) and can result in a DUI arrest."

The deterrent effect of a high-visibility enforcement using both DUI checkpoints and DUI Saturation Patrols is a proven resource in reducing the number of persons killed and injured in alcohol- or drug-involved crashes, authorities said.

In California, alcohol-involved collisions led to 1,155 deaths and nearly 24,000 serious injuries in 2014 because someone failed to designate a sober driver.

“Over the course of the past three years, the NBPD has investigated 196 DUI collisions which have claimed three lives and resulted in 281 injuries to our friends and neighbors,” said Sgt. Michael Schiavi.

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.

Funding for this checkpoint is provided 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’.

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