DUI Checks Help Keep Our Roads Safe

Have you ever thought about how much underage drinking costs? In 2013, underage drinking cost Georgia citizens $1.2 billion.1

In addition to this tremendous financial cost, the Underage Drinking Enforcement Training Center has determined that “Underage drinking is a causal factor in a host of serious problems, including homicide, suicide, traumatic injury, drowning, burns, violent and property crime, high-risk sex, fetal alcohol syndrome, alcohol poisoning, and the need for treatment of alcohol abuse and dependence.”1

Unfortunately, underage drinking can often begin at teen parties. According to researcher Michael Sparks, President of SparksInitiatives, parties are high-risk settings for heavy underage drinking, which leads to other consequences, such as Driving Under the Influence (DUI).2

One way to reduce and prevent teens from driving under the influence is by conducting sobriety checks. Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) explains that the ultimate goal of a sobriety checkpoint is “not to arrest people, but rather to deter people from committing DUI.” These checkpoints are a technique that law enforcement uses where officials stop vehicles in a particular sequence and “evaluate drivers for signs of alcohol or drug impairment.” This, of course, can help officials find drunk drivers, but it also prevents others from driving under the influence after hearing about the checkpoint. These checkpoints are important as they “can reduce alcohol-related crashes and fatalities by 18-24 percent,” according to numerous studies found by the Centers for Disease Control.3

Locally, the Snellville Police Department conducts Impaired Driving Checkpoints on a routine basis. Snellville’s Chief of Police, Roy Whitehead, tells us why these checkpoints are imperative. “Our goal is prevention and deterrence in order to keep our roadways as safe as possible. By sharing the information that checkpoints will be held, we hope that people will make informed and better choices so that they will not drink and drive. The loss of any life is a tragedy, and better choices can prevent them from occurring. We are always willing to do our part.”

During a recent Impaired Driving Checkpoint in March, officers from the Snellville Police Department checked 45 cars. Fortunately, none of the drivers were cited for driving under the influence.

We want to thank our partners at the Snellville Police Department for taking action to reduce the cost and related effects of underage drinking, such as DUIs and alcohol-related crashes, in our community by conducting DUI checks on a frequent basis!

Sources:

1 Underage Drinking Enforcement Training Center (UDETC). (2015). Underage drinking in Georgia [PDF document]. Retrieved from http://www.udetc.org/factsheets/GA.pdf

2 Sparks, M. (2014). Social host policy from theory to practice [PowerPoint Slides]. SparksInitiatives.

3 Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). (2012). Sobriety checkpoints [PDF document]. Retrieved from http://www.madd.org/laws/law-overview/Sobriety_Checkpoints_Overview.pdf

GUIDE, Inc. is a substance abuse prevention agency serving Gwinnett County since 1986. To find out more about us, please connect with us at guideinc.org.