Fight A DUI

California is one of many states that will have a significant increase in DUI checkpoints over the upcoming holidays, with 93 law enforcement agencies spending $3.7 million over the next few weeks. As studies have shown that mandatory checkpoints produce a reduction in alcohol related crashes and fatalities, drivers can expect most of the $3.7 million to be spent in DUI checkpoints.

“Public safety is my No. 1 priority,” said Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. “Driving drunk or otherwise impaired is unacceptable and a serious threat to themselves and to those around them. I am committed to supporting our state’s law enforcement with the tools necessary to detect and remove impaired drivers and keep our roadways safe,” said the Governor.

Meanwhile, Delaware police will hold six DUI checkpoints throughout the state over the Christmas weekend. Since Thanksgiving, Delaware police have arrested 123 people, with 43 of those DUI arrests coming last weekend.

Hawaii brings a slightly different twist to the DUI checkpoint news, with  students and relatives of DUI victims helping Police on the Big Island during the coming week. At the Pahoa checkpoint, students from Pahoa High School and students from University Mothers against Drunk Drivers (UMADD) will display posters, wave signs, and distribute bottled water to sober drivers as they pass through the checkpoint. In Waimea, relatives of a brother and sister killed in separate drunk driving crashes will display photos of their loved ones.

Nevada will also be participating in DUI crackdowns, with extra focus on the News Years Eve celebrations in Las Vegas and Reno. Fittingly, Nicole Richie, who had been scheduled to host a New Years Eve party in Las Vegas, has announced that she will step down as host following her own DUI arrest last week in Los Angeles.