From David Richie:
Police officers throughout the region are hammering suspected drunken drivers as the holidays zoom toward a New Year's Eve crescendo but one special-interest group is urging police to drop a favorite DUI enforcement tactic - the checkpoint.
Drunken driving checkpoints are a failure and they target the wrong drivers, according to a recent news release from the Washington D.C. based American Beverage Institute.
ABI, "an association of restaurants committed to the responsible serving of adult beverages," is especially critical of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which provides grant funding for local drunken driving enforcement. The group also criticizes Mothers Against Drunk Driving, a big supporter of DUI checkpoints.
"By promoting sobriety checkpoints, MADD and NHTSA are ignoring the root cause of today's drunk driving problem - hard-core alcohol abusers," said Sarah Longwell, ABI managing director.
Checkpoints are highly visible and generally publicized in advance so chronic drinkers just avoid them and keep driving, Longwell said.
"That leaves adults who enjoyed a beer while watching a bowl game or a glass of wine with Christmas dinner to be harassed at checkpoints," Longwell said.
However, the group is a strong supporter of another weapon in the DUI enforcement arsenal - roving police patrols or "saturation" efforts. Officers on saturation patrol also ticket speeders, red-light runners and similar traffic offenders.
There are many grants for DUI enforcement programs funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and administered in California by the state's Office of Traffic Safety.
OTS spokesman Chris Cochran said his agency is aware of the ABI argument against drunken driving checkpoints and disagrees. Most police departments are correctly using a combination of checkpoints, saturation patrols and other tactics but the checkpoints still have their place, he said.
"The main reason for checkpoints is the public awareness factor," Cochran said.
Checkpoints are highly visible reminders that California continues to have a real problem with drunken driving. They also underscore the consequences of that activity.
The Office of Traffic Safety also disagrees with the American Beverage Institute's contention that most regular drivers now "get it" and refrain from drinking and driving. Chronic drunks are a concern but the "majority of alcohol-related crashes are caused by non-hardcore drinkers," Cochran said.
"Checkpoints and saturation patrols are different animals and they are meant to do two different things," Cochran said.
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.