DUI checkpoint to kick off weekend in Fairfield

The Fairfield Police Department Traffic Unit will be operating a DUI/Driver's License Checkpoint today near Oliver Road and Travis Boulevard.

DUI Checkpoints are placed in locations based on collision statistics and frequency of DUI arrests, affording the greatest opportunity for achieving drunk and drugged driving deterrence. Locations are chosen with safety considerations for the officers and the public.

The deterrent effect of High Visibility Enforcement using both DUI checkpoints and DUI Saturation Patrols has proven to lower the number of persons killed and injured in alcohol or drug-impaired crashes. Research shows that crashes involving an impaired driver can be reduced by up to 20 percent when well-publicized proactive DUI operations are conducted routinely.

In recent years, California has seen a disturbing increase in drug-impaired driving crashes. Fairfield supports the efforts 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. Everyone should be mindful that if you're taking medication — whether prescription or over-the-counter — drinking even small amounts of alcohol can greatly intensify the impairment affects.

In 2020, Fairfield PD officers investigated 52 DUI collisions which claimed 2 lives and resulted in 69 injured people.

Officers will be looking for signs of alcohol and/or drug impairment, with officers checking drivers for proper licensing, delaying motorists only momentarily. When possible, specially trained officers will be available to evaluate those suspected of drugimpaired driving, which accounts for a growing number of impaired driving crashes.

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 not to mention the embarrassment when friends and family find out.

Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.