How a Modesto police DUI checkpoint this weekend will be different because of COVID-19
Modesto Police Department will be conducting a DUI/driver’s license checkpoint beginning Friday at 6:30 p.m. and continuing until 1:30 a.m. Saturday. It will be at an undisclosed location within the city limits.
The checkpoint will look a bit different from pre-pandemic operations. Officers will follow Centers for Disease Control guidelines, including wearing gloves and masks, MPD spokeswoman Sharon Bear said. Driver’s will simply show their licenses, unless there is a reason officers need to receive it from them.
“They are still reviewing guidelines but will do everything possible to keep everyone safe,” Bear said in a text. The CDC website has a page on “What Law Enforcement Personnel Need to Know about Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).” It has heightened recommendations for dealing with people known or suspected of having COVID-19, including wearing disposable coveralls, but says that for officers “performing daily routine activities, the immediate health risk is considered low.”
Though checkpoint locations are not disclosed, they are based on collision statistics and frequency of DUI arrests, the department said. In 2017, 1,120 people were killed in alcohol-involved crashes on California roads. Last year, MPD investigated 264 DUI collisions, which killed seven people and injured 127 more.
Well-publicized checkpoints and so-called special saturation patrols have proved effective in lowering these statistics by deterring drunk drivers.
The department’s Facebook post announcing the checkpoint includes a reminder that DUI doesn’t mean just alcohol. Drivers using prescription drugs, particularly those with warnings against driving or operating machinery, may be impaired enough to be DUI.
According to a 2018 news release by the MPD, “Studies of California drivers have shown that 30 percent of drivers in fatal crashes had one or more drugs in their systems. A study of active drivers showed more tested positive for drugs that may impair driving (14 percent) than did for alcohol (7.3 percent). Of the drugs, marijuana was most prevalent, at 7.4 percent, slightly more than alcohol.”
The Facebook post also warns that DUI can come with a steep cost, even when there’s no collision and consequential damage, injury or death. “Drivers caught driving impaired and charged with DUI can expect the impact of a DUI arrest to be upwards of $13,500,” it says. “This includes fines, fees, DUI classes, license suspension and other expenses, not to mention possible jail time.”
This story was originally published June 17, 2020 at 10:40 AM.
