Drivers Beware: DUI Checkpoint to be Setup in Undisclosed Area

The Gilroy Police Department's traffic unit will be conducting a DUI/Drivers License checkpoint on April 20 at an undisclosed location within city limits between the hours of 9 p.m. and 2:30 a.m.

Checkpoints are placed in locations that have the greatest opportunity for achieving drunk and drugged driving deterrence and provide the greatest safety for officers and the public.

Officers will be contacting drivers passing through the checkpoint looking for signs of alcohol and/or drug impairment. Drivers caught driving impaired can expect jail, license suspension and insurance increases, as well as fines, fees, DUI classes, court probation and other expenses that can exceed $10,000.

All too often, members of our community are senselessly injured or killed on local roadways by impaired drivers.

“Over the course of the past year, DUI collisions have claimed one life and resulted in 26 accidents injuring many of our friends and neighbors in the city of Gilroy,” said a LE Agency representative.

The DUI/Drivers License checkpoint is an effort to reduce those tragedies and officers will be checking drivers for proper licensing. A major component of these checkpoints is the deterrent effect it has on those who might drive drunk or drugged impaired and bring about more awareness, encouraging everyone to use sober designated drivers.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), checkpoints have provided the most effective documented results of any of the DUI enforcement strategies, while also yielding considerable cost savings of $6 for every $1 spent.

Funding for this operation is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.