The Issue

In Our Region

• In our Region on average there were over 1,200 alcohol-impaired-driving fatalities involving a driver or motorcycle rider with an illegal BAC of .08 or higher in the multi-state area.
• Law enforcement agencies continue to move forward aggressively with the Checkpoint Strikeforce program each year.
• 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.

Nationally

• Each year, nearly 12,000 people die on our roads due to impaired driving.
• All 50 States, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have established a threshold making it illegal per se to drive with a blood alcohol concentration of .08 grams per deciliter or higher.
• Yet 10,839 people in 2009 were killed in U.S. highway crashes involving a driver or motorcycle rider with an illegal BAC of .08 g/dL or higher, according to NHTSA statistics.
• Alcohol impairment among drivers involved in fatal crashes was four times higher at night than during the day (37% versus 9%).

Among Young Drivers

• 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.
• Minimum 21-year-old drinking age laws prevented an estimated 4,441 drunk driving deaths in the last five years alone.

Serious Consequences

• Impaired drivers often cause 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.
• Refusing a sobriety test in many jurisdictions can result in immediate loss of your license and vehicle.

Checkpoint Strikeforce is...

• An intensive law enforcement mobilization to get impaired drivers off our roads.
• Stopping over 500,000 drivers last year at sobriety checkpoints and in saturation patrols in the multi-state area.
• 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.

Checkpoints Work!

• 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.