Bucks County DUI Task Force Announces Upcoming Checkpoint

The Bucks County DUI Task force will conduct an impaired driver checkpoint Friday night into Saturday morning along Route 309 in the Quakertown area, the Bucks County District Attorney's office announced.

The checkpoint will involve 16 officers from seven municipal departments and the Pennsylvania State Police, authorities said. It will operate from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m.

It will be the task force’s first checkpoint since Pennsylvania’s new interlock device law took effect in August.

The new law gives first-time DUI offenders the option of continuing to drive to work with a restricted license, but only with an installed interlock device that prevents the car from starting if the driver has been drinking, the District Attorney's office explained.

Participating in the detail are officers from Bensalem, Doylestown, Newtown, Richland and Warrington Townships, the Pennridge Regional Police Department, the State Police and the Quakertown Borough Police Department, which is coordinating the checkpoint.

Anyone found to be driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs will be subject to arrest.

At the task force’s last checkpoint, conducted July 7 along the Newtown Bypass, officers made six DUI arrests, one narcotics arrest, and issued two citations for underage drinking and two for traffic violations. In addition, six drivers who showed signs of impairment but were still under the legal limit were picked up at the checkpoint by a sober driver.

“Drunk driving is a deadly crime that puts Pennsylvania families at risk and this legislation will help prevent people from driving drunk and endangering themselves and putting other lives at risk,” Gov. Tom Wolf said when he signed the bill last year. “We owe it to both motorists and pedestrians to keep them safe and hold people who break DUI laws accountable.”