The Gilroy Police Department has announced that its traffic unit will be conducting a DUI and driver’s license checkpoint beginning 9 p.m. Friday and ending at 3 a.m. Saturday at an unknown location within city limits.
Officers will be stopping drivers who pass through the checkpoint and determining their level of potential alcohol or drug impairment. According to a press release from the GPD, officers will also be checking for proper licensing. Those caught driving under the influence will face jail time, license suspension, insurance premium increases, DUI classes, fines, fees and other expenses that can exceed $10,000, police warn.
“DUI checkpoints have been an essential part of the phenomenal reduction in DUI deaths that we witnessed since 2006 in California,” said director of the California Office of Traffic Safety, Christopher Murphy. “The tragedy of DUI accounts for nearly one-third of traffic fatalities. Gilroy needs the high visibility enforcement and public awareness that checkpoints provide.”
The GPD said funding for the checkpoint is provided by a grant from the Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
