Sobriety Checkpoint Planned on I-270 May 27: State Police

BETHESDA, MD — The Maryland State Police will conduct a sobriety checkpoint on Friday, May 27, on Interstate 270 from Bethesda to Gaithersburg.

Authorities said the checkpoint will be on I-270 between the I-495 split and I-370.

Officials said the goal is to reduce the number of impaired drivers on Montgomery County roadways.

The Maryland State Police SPIDRE Team arrested 14 suspected drunk drivers while working on Montgomery County roads just last weekend.

Drivers tested had blood alcohol levels between .11 and .20; state law says anyone with a BAC above .08 is legally drunk. One arrest was of a repeat offender, state police said.

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Earlier this month, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan was joined by police officers, lawmakers and the family of slain Montgomery County Police Officer Noah Leotta’s family as the governor signed SB 945, also known as Noah’s Law. The law requires the use of ignition interlocks for convicted drunk drivers.

Leotta, 24, was hit Dec. 3, 2015, by a car on Rockville Pike; he died a week later. The driver charged with fatally striking Leotta – while he was working as part of a holiday task force fighting drunk driving – pleaded guilty May 18 to a manslaughter charge.

Suspect Luis Gustavo Reluzco, 47, of Olney, had been arrested twice before for drunk driving and has a previous conviction for drug possession.

»SEE ALSO:

• 'Noah's Law' Signed, Targets Repeat Drunk Drivers
• National Police Week Honors Officer Noah Leotta Among 123 Fallen

The SPIDRE program was launched in May 2013 and focuses on reducing alcohol-related crashes by targeting areas across the state with high crash rates involving impaired drivers. The goal is to improve highway safety and help Maryland achieve the goal of zero deaths on its roadways. The SPIDRE Team is funded by the Maryland Department of Transportation's Highway Safety Office.

The Maryland Transportation Authority is saturating the roads, checking to see if people are properly buckled in, as part of a national "Click It or Ticket" campaign.

Increased seatbelt enforcement on Maryland highways, bridges and tunnels began May 23 and runs through Sunday, June 5, transportation officials say.

Buckling up is "the single most important thing you can do to keep yourself and your loved ones safe in a crash," according to Maryland Transportation Authority Police Chief Col. Jerry Jones.

Nearly half of fatal crashes involve someone not wearing a seatbelt, officials say.

Men are less likely than women to buckle up, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports; about 53 percent of men killed in crashes were not wearing their seatbelts, compared with 40 percent of women.

However, the trend is for more and more Marylanders to buckle up; statewide, seatbelt use was 92.9 percent in 2015, an increase of 0.8 percent over the previous year, transportation officials report.