CHP Checkpoint Notification
updated: Aug 31, 2012, 4:36 PM

Source: California Highway Patrol

The California Highway Patrol, with the assistance of the Santa Barbara County AVOID campaign, will conduct a joint sobriety/driver license checkpoint this evening, August 31, 2012, from 9:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. on Chapala St. at between Gutierrez St. and Haley St.

Motorists approaching the checkpoint will see informational signs advising them that a sobriety checkpoint is ahead. Once diverted into the lane, motorists will be detained only a few moments while an officer explains the purpose of the checkpoint and checks their driver license.

CHP sobriety checkpoints are conducted in accordance with the guidelines for checkpoint operations outlined in the California Supreme Court decision, Ingersoll vs. Palmer.

Traffic volume permitting, all vehicles will be checked. If volume becomes too heavy, vehicles to be checked will be selected by a pre-set standard (such as every 3rd, 5th, or 10th vehicle) to assure objectivity.

Placing checkpoints on roads identified with DUI problems and detaining drivers for a very limited periods of time help assure that the CHP and other allied agencies conform to the guidelines. Checkpoints tend to reduce the number of drinking drivers on the road, even though arrest totals do not rise dramatically. A major value of checkpoints is their psychological influence. The news media is advised well in advance whenever a checkpoint is planned, since extensive publicity is also viewed as a legal safeguard.

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