Gov. Schwarzenegger Announces Award of $3.7 Million for Sobriety Checkpoints

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today announced the award of $3.7 million to 93 law enforcement agencies across the state to conduct sobriety checkpoints during the winter holiday season and continuing into 2007.

The grants will support heavy enforcement periods throughout the National Impaired Driving Mobilization effort, including the upcoming December holiday and New Years holidays.

In California in 2005, 1,574 people were killed and another 30,810 were injured in alcohol-related crashes, representing an increase of approximately eight percent in alcohol-related fatalities over 2004.

“We know that sobriety checkpoints are an effective way to maximize public awareness and reduce the number of lives lost as a result of drunk driving,” said OTS Director Christopher J. Murphy.  “Studies conducted in California and other states point to the fact that cities conducting sobriety checkpoints report a significant reduction in alcohol-involved crashes.”

California’s holiday anti-DUI crackdown will coincide with the national “Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest” campaign taking place this December and continuing through the New Year’s celebration.