The California Highway Patrol wants to make sure motorists
celebrate the Independence Day weekend in a sober fashion, so it
will conduct local sobriety checkpoints July 4 and 5.
The California Highway Patrol wants to make sure motorists celebrate the Independence Day weekend in a sober fashion, so it will conduct local sobriety checkpoints July 4 and 5.
The checkpoints, the locations of which have not been released by CHP, will be staffed by CHP officers specially trained in detecting motorists who are under the influence of alcohol or drugs, CHP Capt. Bob Davies said.
“Drug recognition experts will provide onsite assessments of drivers expected of drug use,” Davies said.
As commander of the Hollister-Gilroy CHP office, Davies said the checkpoints are intended not so much to make a large number of arrests, but to educate motorists of the dangers of drinking and driving.
“We hope to heighten the awareness of the seriousness of drinking and driving for the holiday season,” Davies said.
Officers at the checkpoints will have access to preliminary alcohol screening devices that analyze a person’s breath and measure the amount of alcohol in their blood.
“All vehicles will be checked and drivers who are under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs can expect to be arrested,” Davies said. “Our objective is to send a clear message to those considering mixing alcohol and or drugs with driving.”
Davies said he wants to prevent the kind of accident that happened two years ago when an elderly woman was killed in an alcohol-related accident at the intersection of highways 156 and 25. A Hollister man was arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter.
The Hollister man was allegedly intoxicated at the time of the crash, the CHP said.
Davies said he wants to do what he can to prevent any more alcohol-related traffic deaths from happening in San Benito County.
“Every year, members of our community are killed and injured on our roads. Our goal is to ensure the safe passage of motorists by targeting roadways where there is a high incidence of driving under the influence.”
