Rancho

Rancho Mirage Target of Driving Under the Influence Checkpoint

RANCHO MIRAGE — On May 5, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office will conduct a driving under the influence Checkpoint from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. at an undisclosed location in the city of Rancho Mirage.

DUI checkpoint locations are determined based on data showing incidents of impaired driving-related crashes. The primary purpose of DUI checkpoints is to promote public safety by taking suspected impaired drivers off the road.

“Impaired drivers put others on the road at significant risk,” Sgt. Don Olson said. “Any prevention measures that reduce the number of impaired drivers on our roads significantly improves traffic safety.”

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Office reminds the public that impaired driving is not just from alcohol. Some prescription medications and over-the-counter drugs may interfere with driving. While medicinal and recreational marijuana are legal, driving under the influence of marijuana is illegal.

Drivers charged with a first-time DUI face an average of $13,500 in fines and penalties, as well as a suspended license.

Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The cost of a DUI isn’t just about penalties and fines.

Here is the real cost of drunken driving, according to the California Office of Traffic Safety:

  • Approximately one-third of all traffic crash fatalities in the United States involve drunk drivers (with blood alcohol concentrations [BACs] of .08 of higher). In 2013, there were 10,076 people killed in these preventable crashes.
  • In 2013, approximately 1 in 5 child (12 and younger) passenger deaths were in drunk-driving crashes. Seventy-one percent of the time, it was the child’s own driver who was drunk.
  • Of those child passengers killed while riding with a drunk driver, 44 percent weren’t buckled up at the time of the crash.
  • In addition to the human toll drunk driving takes on our country, the financial impact is devastating as well: based on 2010 numbers (the most recent year for which cost data is available), impaired-driving crashes cost the United States $49.8 billion annually.

Image Sources

  • DUI: Shutterstock