Police Crack Down on Drunk Drivers

By Lookout Staff

June 30 -- Santa Monica Police set up a sobriety checkpoint on the 1200 block of Ocean Avenue Friday night as part of a nationwide crackdown on drunk drivers during the busy summer season.

Through July 13, local police will be working with the California Highway Patrol on the campaign, which is dubbed, “You Drink & Drive. You Lose.”

During the campaign, local and state officials will be out in full force conducting sobriety checkpoints and saturation patrols throughout Southern California.

The goal is “to arrest and prosecute these criminals to the fullest extent of the law,” said Lt. Frank Fabrega, the department spokesman.

Statistics indicate that after years of gradual improvement, fatalities in alcohol-related crashes are on the rise nationwide, Fabrega said.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that 17,448 people were killed in alcohol-related crashes in 2001, representing 41 percent of the 42,116 fatalities in all traffic crashes. In 2002, the number alcohol related fatalities rose to 17,970, or 42 percent of the 42,850 who were killed in crashes.