DUI Checkpoint Scheduled This Weekend In Watsonville

WATSONVILLE, CA — The Watsonville Police Department will be conducting a DUI/Driver’s License Checkpoint Saturday at an undisclosed location within city limits between 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. Sunday. Officers will be looking for signs of alcohol and/or drug impairment, and checking drivers for proper licensing.

DUI checkpoints like the one this weekend are placed in locations based on crash statistics and frequency of DUI arrests, according to Watsonville police.

Police are reminding drivers that DUI doesn’t just mean alcohol. 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, police said.

In 2019, the Watsonville Police Department has investigated 64 DUI collisions, 13 of which caused injuries, police said.

Drivers caught driving impaired and charged with DUI can expect to pay upward of $13,500. This includes fines, fees, DUI classes, license suspension and other expenses not to mention possible jail time, according to police.

Funding for this checkpoint is provided to The Watsonville Police Department by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.