DATE: September 4, 2021
SUBJECT: DUI and Driver’s License Checkpoint Results
CONTACT: Ricardo Vazquez, Sergeant
(805) 385-7847 | [email protected]
Oxnard, Ca. – 1115 drivers were screened while driving through a DUI checkpoint on September 3, 2021. The checkpoint was held at Rose Avenue north of Wooley Road from 7:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m.
Twenty-six drivers were cited for operating a vehicle unlicensed or with a suspended/revoked license. Two drivers were arrested for DUI.
Checkpoint locations are based on a history of crashes and DUI arrests. The primary purpose of checkpoints is not to make arrests, but to promote public safety by deterring drivers from driving impaired.
Drivers caught driving impaired and charged with DUI can expect the impact of a DUI arrest to be approximately $13,500. This includes fines, fees, DUI classes, license suspension, and other expenses not to mention possible jail time.
The Oxnard Police Department reminds drivers that “DUI Doesn’t Just Mean Booze.” Prescription drugs, particularly those with a driving or operating machinery warning on the label, can impair and result in a DUI. Marijuana can also be impairing, especially in combination with alcohol or other drugs.
Funding for this checkpoint was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
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First of all, let me say that I am sorry that you lost your brother. Indeed, that is tragic. And then yourself to be personally involved in an accident with an impaired driver. A double whammy.
I do not believe that checkpoints are the answer. Furthermore, they are very inefficient. The DUI arrest ratio for this particular checkpoint was 0.18 percent while the driving w/o a valid license or revoked license was 2.3 percent. These are not good rates of return. It has been proven by the CHP that roving patrols are more efficient when it comes to removing impaired drivers off the road. What is a fact is that these DUI checkpoints are an easy method for police officers to capture a lot of overtime. And yes, one might observe many officers just standing around during the checkpoint. And yes, most of the time the money to pay for these checkpoints come from grants from the state and do not come from city coiffures. However, it is still taxpayer money which could be put to better use.
As stated in the article, if the primary purpose of these checkpoints is to promote public safety – which is the basis of the state grant – by deterring drivers from operating a vehicle while impaired. If that’s the case, then why are they requiring the drivers to produce a valid driver’s license? I thought it was a DUI checkpoint – not a DL checkpoint. And, if they are asking for the driver’s license, why not finish the cheeseburger and ask for proof of insurance. I submit that there are more drivers on the road operating a vehicle w/o the state-mandated liability insurance than there are drivers who are impaired.
A while back I was rear-ended by a driver who had no insurance and no DL. The police were called and the offending driver was interviewed. I assume the driver received tickets for operating the vehicle with no DL and no insurance. However, after a few minutes, the driver just drove off!!! Again, no DL and no insurance. This is our law enforcement.
Again, I am sorry about your brother and sorry you had to also suffer at the hands of an impaired driver. But, I still don’t think DUI checkpoints are the answer. Use that money to increase the quantity of roving patrols – and not on an overtime basis – whose sole purpose is to target those who are driving impaired. And if these roving patrols stop someone, finish the cheeseburger – just like you would during a normal traffic stop.
Hip hip hooray!!! Get them drunk drivers off the roads!!!! I wonder tho, why does OPD only set up one checkpoint at a time? Why not a couple or more? Like on other main problem streets? I realize that they cost lots of money to hold, but I have parked and watched the process and I could never figure out why so many officers seemed to be doing nothing. Couldn’t they have manned another check point? Whatever the cost to run one is, it is not as costly as a drunk driver taking even one precious life. And, who keeps an eye on these drunk drivers during their retraining? And after? Is there anyone , an agency maybe, who keeps tabs on them to see if and how much these irresponsible repeat this violation of the laws, not to mention public safety? I am the first to admit that I have a really bad attitude wwhen it comes to drunk drivers because my big brother was taken from us by a man who had many priors.
My brother was only 24 years old. And I have spent the last 40years in constant pain. I’m very blessed to be alive, but I almost died in a wreck just like my brother, beheaded by a drunk driver with priors. I was that woman’s third DUI, and, get this, she was late for picking her daughter up from school!!! If it hadn’t been me, it could have been that little girl! So, again, I ask, for myself and so many others who have lost loved ones, why can’t OPD have more than one checkpoint going on at the same time??? The cost of running one is insignificant compared to a lost life. If need be, have a bakesale and sell cupcakes!