CHP to set up DUI checkpoint on Friday

The California Highway Patrol will conduct a sobriety checkpoint on Friday night to reduce the number of alcohol related accidents.

The checkpoint will start at 7 p.m. and last until 3 a.m. Saturday morning. CHP hasn’t announced its location yet.

According to a release, the CHP believes that checkpoints tend to “reduce the number of drinking drivers on the road, even though arrest totals don’t rise dramatically.”

Officers said a major benefit of checkpoints is their psychological deterrent value.

If you’re driving into a checkpoint, and aren’t intoxicated, you’ll only be detained for a few moments while an officer explains the purpose of the checkpoint.

On October 19, 1987, the California State Supreme Court ruled that sobriety checkpoints conducted within constitutional safeguards are legal, according to CHP.

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