La Quinta DUI Checkpoint planned for Labor Day weekend

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department is planning a sobriety and driver’s license checkpoint operation in La Quinta at the start of the Labor Day weekend.

The checkpoint will be held at an undisclosed location within the city limits between 7 p.m. Friday and 3 a.m. Saturday.

Checkpoints are conducted in locations with high levels of collisions and DUI arrests, according to the sheriff’s department, which will be checking for proper licensing, alcohol impairment and drug impairment — including marijuana and prescription drugs.

“If you take prescription drugs, particularly those with a driving or operating machinery warning on the label, you might be impaired enough to get a DUI,” according to a sheriff’s statement. “Marijuana can also be impairing, especially in combination with alcohol or other drugs, and can result in a DUI.”

The average cost of a DUI is as much as $13,500, including fines, fees, classes, license suspension and other expenses, sheriff’s officials warned.

Funding for the checkpoint comes from a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.