DUI checkpoint set for Friday
Officers with the Newhall-area Office of the California Highway Patrol announced Wednesday they’ll be conducting a DUI checkpoint Friday night.
The location of the “sobriety checkpoint” is expected to be revealed just prior to the operation getting underway.
The checkpoint is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. and last until 2:30 a.m. Saturday.
Motorists approaching the checkpoint can expect to see informational signs advising them of a sobriety checkpoint ahead.
Once diverted into the lane, they are expected to be detained only momentarily while an officer explains the purpose of the checkpoint, according to CHP Officer Josh Greengard, who announced the checkpoint in a news release issued Wednesday.
The goal of the DUI checkpoint, he wrote in the release, is to create awareness among the motoring public, to deter people from driving under the influence, and to keep the streets safe for all.
Although checkpoints tend to reduce the number of drunken drivers on the road, the CHP officers plan on apprehending DUI drivers who fail to heed warnings.
Even though arrest totals do not rise dramatically, the psychological influence a checkpoint has on the motoring public is invaluable, the release said.
Sobriety checkpoints are carried out in accordance to the guidelines for checkpoint operations outlined in the Supreme Court decision, Ingersol vs. Palmer.
Traffic volume permitting, all vehicles will be checked. If traffic volume becomes too heavy, vehicles to be checked will be selected by a pre-set standard, such as every fifth or 10th vehicle, in order to assure objectivity, Greengard wrote.