In hopes of getting drunk drivers off the road and making local roads safer, the Benicia Police Department will soon be setting up more DUI checkpoints, thanks to a grant the department received. Here are the details, courtesy of the police department:
Additional enforcement measures to combat impaired driving are coming as a result of a recent $24,484.53 grant awarded by the California Office of Traffic Safety to Benicia. The Benicia Police Department is dedicated to keeping our streets safe through both enforcement and education. The grant period is 12/01/12 to 9/30/13.
Our main goal is to remove the impaired driver from the roadway and ensure the motoring public is safe. With the financial assistance provided by the California Office of Traffic Safety, we will do our best to achieve this goal said Benicia Police Lieutenant Frank Hartig.
The special DUI Checkpoint grant is to assist in efforts to reduce the number of persons killed and injured in alcohol and other drug related collisions in the community. The grant activities will specifically target impaired driving offenders as well as educating the public on the dangers of impaired driving through the use of DUI/driver’s license checkpoints. When possible, specially trained officers will be available to evaluate those suspected of drug-impaired driving.
Drunk and drugged driving is among America’s deadliest crimes. In 2010, 791 people were killed and over 24,000 injured in alcohol and drug-impaired crashes in California. In 2010, the City of Benicia experienced 16 traffic collisions related to DUI’s with 4 people injured in these tragic crashes. In 2011, Benicia had 13 traffic collisions related to DUI’s and 2 people injured. Crashes involving alcohol drop by an average of 20 percent when well-publicized checkpoints are conducted often enough. Checkpoints have proven to be the most effective of any of the DUI enforcement strategies, while yielding considerable cost savings of $6 for every $1 spent.
“DUI checkpoints have been an essential part of the phenomenal reduction in DUI deaths that we witnessed from 2006 to 2010 in California,” said Christopher J. Murphy, Director of the Office of Traffic Safety. “But since the tragedy of DUI accounts for nearly one third of traffic fatalities, Benicia needs the high visibility enforcement and public awareness that this grant will provide.”
Funding for this program is from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
For information regarding this press release, please contact Lt. Frank Hartig at fhartig@ci.benicia.ca.us or by calling (707) 746-4259.
