Elk Grove Police to conduct sobriety check this Friday

The Elk Grove Police Department will be conducting a Sobriety/Drivers License checkpoint on November 19, 2010 at an undisclosed location within the city limits between the hours of 8:00 p.m and 3:00 a.m. This is part of an ongoing campaign to reduce the number of persons killed and injured in alcohol involved crashes.

Over the course of the past three years, DUI collisions have claimed 4 lives and resulted in 70 injury crashes harming 102 of our friends and neighbors.

Statewide, overall traffic deaths declined by 23 percent, from 3,995 in 2007 to 3,081 in 2009. Total traffic fatalities are at their lowest levels in six decades. DUI deaths declined by 16 percent, from 1,132 in 2007 to 950 in 2009, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System.

Alcohol impaired deaths still make up the largest category of overall vehicle fatalities, with 31 percent of all deaths being caused by a drunk driver. A DUI checkpoint is a proven effective method to lower this totally preventable crime. Additionally, drivers will be checked to ensure that they have a valid driver’s license, since unlicensed drivers are over-represented in fatal crashes.

Funding for this operation is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration