The Benton Police Department recently held a DWI sobriety checkpoint on 2/21/14 in various locations throughout the city. The checkpoint was conducted to find intoxicated drivers and get them off the roadways. This is part of the traffic enforcement and education initiative the department is currently conducting.
During the checkpoint there were numerous arrests made for a variety of criminal offenses. Some charges included 6 DWI's (both alcohol and drug related-marijuana), 5 counts of Possession of a Controlled Substance, 2 counts of Drinking in Public, 2 counts of Driving on a Suspended License (one suspended from a previous DWI), 2 counts of Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, 1 count of Refusal to Take a Chemical Test, and 1 warrant out of our department.
Every day, approximately 30 people in the United States die in motor vehicle crashes that involve an alcohol or drug impaired driver. This amounts to one death every 48 minutes. The annual cost of alcohol-related crashes totals more than $51 billion, and this doesn't even take into account the emotional costs of people losing friends and loved ones.
By utilizing sobriety checkpoints it has been demonstrated to have a 10 percent reduction in the number of DWI impaired drivers in a given area. Educational and enforcement efforts over the past 30 years have also helped contribute to an approximately 50% reduction in alcohol impaired fatality crashes since the 1980's, but a lot of work is still needed to work towards zero deaths from impaired drivers.
The ultimate goal of these traffic initiatives is not to write more citations. Instead, we will hopefully be able to encourage everyone to drive safer and alter their driving mentality towards a defensive style. We hope that by taking an enforcement and education approach we’ll be able to reduce the number of accidents we see in our community and that everyone can arrive safely to their destinations. Stay safe out there.
Source Information: www.nhtsa.gov, www.cdc.gov
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