Checkpoint Strikeforce Program to Blanket D.C. Area With Sobriety Checkpoints

Area Law Enforcement Effort Supported by 16-Week Radio Ad Campaign

WASHINGTON, Sept. 24 -- Law enforcement agencies throughout the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area are stepping up the fight against motorists who drink and drive. Between now and January 4, 2004, District, Maryland and Virginia law enforcement agencies will conduct widespread sobriety checkpoints and patrols every week to deter motorists from driving under the influence and to identify and arrest those who get behind the wheel even though they are impaired. The sobriety checkpoints are part of Checkpoint Strikeforce, which couples a public awareness radio campaign with zero tolerance law enforcement to reduce the number of impaired drivers in the Washington area.

"If you drink and drive, the odds are that you will be caught and arrested at a sobriety checkpoint," said Lt. Patrick Burke, Traffic Safety Coordinator for the Metropolitan Police Department. "If you plan to drink, use public transportation or have a designated driver who has not been drinking to take you home."

In support of Checkpoint Strikeforce, the Maryland Highway Safety Office and the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles provided grants to the Washington Regional Alcohol Program, a public-private coalition formed to fight drunk driving, drugged driving and underage drinking in the Washington metropolitan area. WRAP has developed a $170,000 media campaign targeting the highest risk demographic group of males 21 to 34. The campaign features three radio spots about the more resounding consequences of impaired driving for this particular audience such as arrest and losing your license. More than 1,800 spots will run on area radio stations between now and New Year's Eve.

"We feel it is important to remind the motoring public that drinking and driving has serious consequences," said Kurt Gregory Erickson, President of WRAP. "These ads, along with law enforcement's sobriety checkpoints, should make people think twice before drinking and driving. As a result, safety will be enhanced on area roads and highways."

Sobriety checkpoints are among law enforcement's most effective anti-drunk driving tools because they are used at times and locations where drunk driving is most likely to occur. Studies show that sobriety checkpoints can reduce alcohol-related crashes by as much as 20 percent.

The National Center for Statistics & Analysis reports that in 2002, a total of 17,419 people were killed in alcohol-related crashes nationwide, including 25 people in the District, 265 in Maryland and 371 in Virginia. In a survey of 404 licensed drivers conducted last month by Andres McKenna Research, 57 percent of those surveyed felt that drunk drivers are a serious danger that drivers face in the D.C. area.