THE ISSUE

• In 2006, there were 1,426 alcohol-related traffic deaths in the multi-state area.
• Law enforcement agencies continue to move forward aggressively with the Checkpoint Strikeforce program each year to improve its outcome.
• The CPSF message is simple. No matter what you drive - a passenger car, pickup, sport utility vehicle, commercial vehicle or motorcycle - if you are caught driving impaired, you will be arrested. No exceptions. No excuses.

• Impaired driving is one of America's most-often-committed and deadliest crimes. During 2005, nearly 13,000 people were killed in highway crashes involving a driver or motorcycle operator.
• For motorcycle operators, the risk is growing. 41% of the 1,878 motorcycle operators who died in a single-vehicle crashes in 2005 had blood alcohol levels of .08 or higher.

• 16-20 year olds are TWICE AS LIKELY to die in an alcohol-related crash.
• At current rates, 3 out of every 2,000 kids who turn 16 this year will die in a crash before their 21st birthday.

• Driving impaired does not end at the potential death, disfigurement, disability and injury caused by impaired drivers.
• The trauma and financial costs of a crash or an arrest for driving impaired can be significant.
• If you're caught driving while impaired by alcohol or drugs, penalties include fines, jail time, loss of their driver's license, higher insurance rates, attorney's fees, other fines and court costs, lost time at work, etc.
• According to the Thomas Jefferson Area Community Criminal Justice Board, total costs of a DUI arrest are between $5,000 and $20,000.
• Refuse a sobriety test in many jurisdictions can result in loss of license on the spot and your car impounded.

• An intensive law enforcement mobilization to get impaired drivers off our roads.
• Stopping over 800,000 drivers last year at sobriety checkpoints and in saturation patrols in the Mid-Atlantic Region.
• Using checkpoints and patrols when and where drunk driving is most likely to occur.
• Combining high visibility checkpoints and paid advertising to create awareness of enforcement and educate the public about dangers and consequences.

• According to Insurance Institute of Highway Safety studies, sobriety checkpoints can reduce alcohol-related traffic fatalities by as much as 20 percent. They deter people from driving under the influence and arrest those who drink and drive.
• Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) reports that 85-90% of Americans support sobriety checkpoints.
• Every year, thousands of impaired drivers have been stopped, arrested, and taken off our roads. The program also catches seat belt and child safety seat violators, car thieves, wanted felons and fugitives, drug users and people driving with suspended licenses.