Crime & Safety

Martinez Police to Increase DUI Checkpoints

Last year, seven people were injured in DUI related collisions in the City of Martinez.

The Martinez Police Department has been awarded a new traffic safety grant for an anti-DUI program aimed at preventing deaths and injuries on Martinez roadways, police officials announced this week.

The recent $21,515 grant awarded by the California Office of Traffic Safety to the City of Martinez will go toward enforcement measures to combat impaired driving, according to the Police Department.

The special DUI Checkpoint grant will 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 educate the public on the dangers of impaired driving. When possible, specially trained officers will be available to evaluate those suspected of drug-impaired driving.

Drunk and drugged driving are among America’s deadliest crimes, according to the Police Department. In 2011, 774 people were killed and more than 24,000 injured in alcohol and drug-impaired crashes in California.

Last year, seven people were injured in DUI related collisions in the City of Martinez. 

Crashes involving alcohol have been shown to drop by up to 20 percent when well-publicized checkpoints are conducted often enough, according to police.

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 and are supported by nearly 90 percent of California drivers, police said.

“DUI checkpoints have been an essential part of the phenomenal reduction in DUI deaths that we witnessed from 2006 to 2010 in California,” said Martinez Police Chief Gary Peterson.

“Since the tragedy of DUI driving accounts for nearly one third of traffic fatalities, it is a priority that this community has high visibility enforcement and a public awareness campaign that this grant will provide,” he said.

Funding for this program is from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.


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