Crime & Safety

5 Cars Impounded at DUI Checkpoint

No DUI-related arrests are made, however.

Five misdemeanor citations were issued and the same number of cars were impounded at the staged by the on Friday. Police have not released the location of the checkpoint.

While 11 field sobriety tests were given at the checkpoint, no DUI arrests were made.

Four people received misdemeanor citations for being unlicensed drivers. An additional driver received a misdemeanor for driving with a suspended license. The five cars operated by the drivers were impounded.

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"Unlicensed drivers are over-represented in fatal crashes," Sgt. Richard Lewis told Santa Monica Patch.

Also at the checkpoint, 19 traffic citations were issued "for various violations relating to illegal right, left and U-turns by motorists approaching the checkpoint," Lewis said. "A few others were for driving during darkness with no headlights on."

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A total of 1,800 vehicles passed through the checkpoint, and 344 of them were screened. It was the fourth in a series of checkpoints police are conducting as part of a yearlong campaign.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System, DUI deaths fell by 16 percent from 2007 (1,132) to 2009 (950). The total number of traffic-related fatalities is the lowest it's been in six decades.

The California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, funded the checkpoint.


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