The California Highway Patrol held a DUI checkpoint Friday and no drunk drivers showed up, according to checkpoint results that show no arrests were made for impaired driving.
“On Friday night’s check point we screened 467 vehicles, we conducted field sobriety tests on 11 individuals,” CHP Officer Josh Greengard said Monday morning.
“From the check point we had zero arrest for DUI, but over the weekend — Friday to Sunday night — we had five DUI arrests,” he said.
The CHP checkpoint was carried out on The Old Road between Pico Canyon Road and McBean Parkway.
With five additional DUI arrests made this past weekend by deputies with the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station, the total number of DUI arrests in the SCV added up to 10.
Friday’s CHP checkpoint began at about 6:30 p.m. Friday and concluded at approximately 2:30 a.m. Saturday, June 16.
During the operation, motorists approaching the checkpoint encountered informational signs advising them of a sobriety checkpoint ahead, Greengard stated in a news release about the operation.
Once diverted into the lane, motorists were detained momentarily while an officer explains the purpose of the checkpoint.
The goal of the DUI — driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol — checkpoint is to create awareness among the motoring public, to deter people from driving under the influence, and to keep the streets safe for all, Greengard wrote.
Although checkpoints tend to reduce the number of drinking drivers on the road, the CHP were prepared to apprehend DUI drivers if they failed to heed the warnings.
Even though arrest totals do not rise dramatically, the psychological influence a checkpoint has on the motoring public is invaluable, according to CHP officials.
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