SACRAMENTO, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Police in 150 California cities will begin using sobriety checkpoints in 2010 as part of an attempt to clamp down on drunken driving, state officials say.
Chris Murphy, head of the state's Office of Traffic Safety, said the planned use of sobriety checkpoints throughout the state will serve as a public relations campaign intended to deter people from driving intoxicated, The Sacramento Bee said Thursday.
"It's not about the number of arrests. It's about the deterrent effect," Murphy said.
The state's aggressive campaign against drunken driving will be funded with $8 million in funds thanks to federal grants and will leave California with the most extensive checkpoint program in the United States for 2010.
State agencies insist sobriety checkpoints will not be the only deterrent to drunken driving, citing the use of saturation patrols. Such patrols involve state agencies working in conjunction to discover any drunken drivers in a specified area.
The Bee said during the last three years in California, the number of road deaths in the state have fallen. That decrease includes any deaths attributed to alcohol-involved crashes.
