The Santa Barbara Police Department is planning a targeted DUI checkpoint this weekend.
According to SBPD, in recent years, California has seen a disturbing increase in drug-impaired driving crashes. In hopes to combat these crashes, SBPD will be conducting a DUI/Driver’s License Checkpoint from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. Saturday, June 9 at undisclosed locations within the city limits.
SBPD supports the new effort from the Office of Traffic Safety that aims to educate all drivers that "DUI Doesn’t Just Mean Booze." 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.
In California, alcohol involved collisions led to 1,155 deaths and nearly 24,000 serious injuries in 2014. Over the course of the past three years Santa Barbara PD officers have investigated 464 DUI collisions which have claimed 5 lives and resulted in another 121 injuries.
Drivers are encouraged to download the Designated Driver VIP, or "DDVIP," free mobile app for Android or iPhone. The DDVIP app helps find nearby bars and restaurants that feature free incentives for the designated sober driver, from free non-alcoholic drinks to free appetizers and more. The feature-packed app even has social media tie-ins and even a tab for the non-DD to call Uber, Lyft or Curb.
Drivers caught driving impaired can expect the impact of a DUI arrest to include jail time, fines, fees, DUI classes, license suspensions and other expenses that can exceed $10,000.
