Gilroy police will be on the lookout for drug or alcohol impaired drivers and verifying drivers possess valid licenses at an overnight checkpoint scheduled for Aug. 21, according to a Gilroy Police Department press release.
The checkpoint is scheduled to take place at an undisclosed location within city limits between 9 p.m. Aug. 21 and 3 a.m. Aug. 22. Drivers caught driving impaired can expect jail, license suspension and insurance increases, as well as fines, fees, DUI classes and other expenses that can exceed $10,000.
Officers will also be checking to see if drivers on the road possess valid licenses free of suspensions and other restrictions, police said.
“The deterrent effect of DUI checkpoints is a proven resource in reducing the number of persons killed and injured in alcohol or drug involved crashes,” the GPD release reads. “Research shows that crashes involving alcohol drop by an average of 20 percent when well-publicized checkpoints are conducted often enough.”
Data from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration suggests that collisions involving impaired drivers account for one-third of traffic fatalities across the state—and around 10,000 deaths a year are caused by an impaired driver.
Locally, three Gilroy Unified School District high school students and a 24-year-old man were killed in a car wreck in May on Leavesley Road when the car’s driver went off the road, killing all four passengers on impact. The Santa Clara County District Attorney has since charged the driver and lone survivor, 23-year-old Anthony Imbronone III, with manslaughter and driving under the influence of alcohol.
The location of the Friday, Aug. 21 checkpoint will be strategic, police said, placed in an area where there’s the “greatest opportunity” at stopping intoxicated drivers and based on where collisions frequently occur, according to the press release.
