Results from the Beverly Hills Police Department’s most recent DUI/Driver’s License checkpoint on Feb. 28 bode well for late night City driving, with the department reporting just one DUI arrest over the course of the five-hour checkpoint.
Held at Santa Monica Boulevard between Crescent Drive and Canon Drive between the hours of 9 p.m. and 2 a.m. using a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety Administration, a total of 1,172 cars passed through the checkpoint during that time, of which 266 vehicles were screened. Of the two DUI investigations conducted, just one resulted in a DUI arrest. In addition, four drivers were screened for failing to have a driver license in their possession, two of which were cited and arrested for operating a vehicle unlicensed or with a suspended/ revoked license.
“We are committed to traffic safety and working in partnership with the Office of Traffic Safety to bring traffic enforcement and education to Beverly Hills,” said BHPD Chief Sandra Spagnoli.
Drivers caught driving impaired in Beverly Hills and charged with a DUI can expect the impact of the arrest to be approximately $13,500. This includes fines, fees, DUI classes, license suspension and other expenses, not to mention possible jail time. BHPD will also make DUI arrests for those driving impaired from sources other than alcohol. Prescription drugs, particularly those with a driving or operating machinery warning on the label, can impair one’s driving ability and result in a DUI. Marijuana can also be impairing, especially in combination with alcohol or other drugs.
Last year the Beverly Hills Police Department investigated 29 DUI injury collisions that killed three people and injured others.
BHPD plans to conduct another DUI/ Driver’s License checkpoint and/or DUI Saturation Patrol in the near future as part of its ongoing commitment to take suspected impaired drivers off City streets and highways, ultimately lowering the risk for deaths and injuries. DUI Checkpoints are placed in locations based on collision statistics and frequency of DUI arrests.
