DUI Saturation Patrols This Friday

San Francisco Police Department’s Traffic Unit will be conducting Avoid DUI saturation patrols on Friday, January 9th between the hours of 8:00 P.M. and 3:00 A.M. Research shows that crashes involving an impaired driver can be reduced by up to 20 percent when well-publicized DUI checkpoints and proactive DUI patrols are conducted routinely.“As we start a new year, we want to ensure we aim to prevent any tragedies from occurring. By having saturation patrols and DUI checkpoints, we can get impaired drivers off our streets and hopefully see zero traffic fatalities related to alcohol,” says Officer Albie Esparza, San Francisco Police. Officers will be looking for signs of alcohol and/or drug impairment with officers checking drivers for proper licensing delaying motorists only momentarily. When possible, specially trained officers will be available to evaluate those suspected of drug-impaired driving. Recent statistics reveal that 30 percent of drivers in fatal crashes had one or more drugs in their systems. A study of active drivers showed more tested positive for drugs that may impair driving (14 percent) than did for alcohol (7.3 percent). Of the drugs, marijuana was most prevalent, at 7.4 percent, slightly more than alcohol.Drivers caught driving impaired can expect the impact of a DUI arrest to include jail time, fines, fees, DUI classes, other expenses that can exceed $10,000 not to mention the embarrassment when friends and family find out.Funding for this checkpoint is provided to the San Francisco Police Department by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, reminding everyone to ‘Report Drunk Driver – Call 9-1-1’.