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December 15, 2011 (San Diego County) -- The San Diego County Sheriff's Department has been awarded a new traffic safety grant for a year‐long anti‐DUI program aimed at preventing deaths and injuries on our roadways.
The $300,000 grant awarded by the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) to the cities of Del Mar, Encinitas, Imperial Beach, Lemon Grove, Poway, San Marcos, Santee, Solana Beach and Vista, will aid in ongoing efforts to improve traffic safety and the quality of life.
“The Sheriff’s Department is committed to ensuring the safety of the public,” said Sheriff Bill Gore. “This holiday season, please think before you drink. Designate a sober driver and remember if you drink and drive, we will catch you.”
DUI/Driver License Checkpoints are a key component of the grant. These highly visible, widely publicized events are meant to deter impaired driving, not to increase arrests. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), checkpoints have provided the most effective documented results of any of the DUI enforcement strategies, while yielding considerable cost savings of $6 for every $1 spent.
Grant funding also allows for roving DUI saturation patrols, warrant searches and stakeouts for repeat DUI offenders, along with court stings targeting DUI offenders with suspended or revoked driver licenses who drive while attending court hearings or court mandated programs.
This DUI Enforcement and Awareness grant also provides drug impairment training to help combat the increasing problem of drivers under the influence of drugs or illegal substances. Grant funding will allow deputies to receive specialized training to detect impaired drivers under the influence of legal and illegal drugs.
During this holiday season, the San Diego County Sheriff's Department will deploy deputies to conduct DUI/Driver license checkpoints in the following cities: All checkpoints will begin at about 1900 hours and run to approximately 0200 hours.
• December 16th Vista
• December 16th Lemon Grove
• December 17th Santee
• December 17th San Marcos
Drunk driving is one of America’s deadliest crimes. “Thanks to the dedicated hard work of agencies like the San Diego County Sheriff's Department, California has seen a drop of nearly 27 percent in DUI fatalities,” said OTS Director Christopher J. Murphy. “While this is good news, we know that only by keeping the pressure on through enforcement and public awareness can we hope to sustain these declines and save lives. We are on the right path with declining fatalities. We have to stick to that path so that some day we can reach the vision we all share – Toward Zero Deaths, Every 1 Counts.”
Funding for this program is from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
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