AVOID The 12 Arrests 5 DUI Suspects - Independence Day Weekend Enforcement Contiunes Through Monday

Santa Barbara - JULY 4th, 2010

 Most sober people would get the point.

If you're in the middle of an Avoid the 12 sobriety checkpoint and then suddenly turn out of the checkpoint into a closed business parking lot, you are going to draw the suspicion of quite a few law enforcement officers.

Three allegedly not very sober drivers did not get the point last night at an Independence Day weekend checkpoint in Santa Barbara, did just that and were arrested on suspicion of DUI, according to Dep. Win Smith, Avoid the 12 coordinator.


Sheriff's deputies and officers from Santa Maria, Santa Barbara, Lompoc, UCSB, and State Parks arrested five people at the checkpoint, which ran from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. Sunday. They screened all 782 vehicles that came through the checkpoint, conducted 69 DUI investigations and made five DUI arrests. They arrested 10 people for not being properly licensed and towed nine cars.


"One of the most common excuses we hear is that people didn't realize how impaired they were. They may have felt fine, but couldn't pass field sobriety tests and had blood alcohol levels at the legal limit or above. Don't be fooled that how you feel when you are drinking has any relation to how impaired you are," Smith remarked.


Continuing weekend enforcement includes freeway saturation by the three offices of the California Highway Patrol in the county.


The Avoid the 12 enforcement event ends at midnight on Monday, July 5. It is funded by the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.