ESCONDIDO — A DUI checkpoint will be conducted Thursday at an undisclosed location, the Escondido Police Department has announced.
The checkpoint will be held from 5 p.m. Thursday to 1 a.m. Friday.
“Impaired drivers put others on the road at significant risk,” EPD Police Chief Ed Varso said. “Any prevention measures that reduce the number of impaired drivers on our roads significantly improves traffic safety.”
Impaired driving is not just from alcohol, Varso noted. 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 DUI checkpoint comes less than a week after a 13-year-old boy was killed in an alleged DUI vehicle collision at the intersection of North Broadway and Country Club Lane in Escondido on Saturday, April 27.
The boy was a passenger of Alexander Tito Oroz, 20, who was arrested on suspicion of felony DUI and gross vehicular manslaughter.
