A recent DUI checkpoint arranged by the Santa Maria Police Department (SMPD) didn’t nab any intoxicated drivers. None of the 550 drivers screened on Nov. 11 were arrested for drug or alcohol impaired driving, but 11 were sited for driving without a valid license.
SMPD’s Traffic Unit has conducted several DUI checkpoints throughout the last year with funding from a $365,000 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety. The checkpoints, according to an SMPD press release, are aimed at decreasing Santa Maria’s high rates of alcohol- and drug-impaired driving.
Santa Maria was ranked the third worst of 57 cities of its size for alcohol-involved driving incidents in 2014, the most recent year data was available to the Office of Traffic Safety. That year, of the 355 people killed or injured in alcohol-involved traffic collisions in Santa Barbara County, 86 were in Santa Maria.
But “DUI doesn’t just mean booze,” according to the SMPD, and California has recently seen a major increase in drug-impaired driving incidents, including collisions involving prescription drugs and marijuana.
Thirty percent of all fatal crashes in California involved impaired driving, according to the SMPD release, and a recent study of active drivers showed that while 14 percent tested positive for drugs, only 7.3 percent tested positive for alcohol. Of the drugs, marijuana was most prevalent, according to the release.
But the most recent of Santa Maria’s DUI checkpoints highlighted another issue prevalent in the area: unlicensed drivers. After 550 drivers were screened at 200 North Broadway between 6 p.m. and 3 a.m., 11 of 12 citations written were for inadequately licensed drivers—some unlicensed and others driving with revoked or suspended licenses. No DUI citations were given.
Chris Cochran of the Office of Traffic Safety said in a previous interview that recent studies showed nearly 3 million to 4 million California drivers were unlicensed, and those drivers were five times more likely than those licensed to be involved in hit-and-run incidents.
But SMPD Traffic Bureau Supervisor Sgt. Duane Schneider has said that Santa Maria’s traffic issues were improving thanks to funding from the Office of Traffic Safety.
The SMPD could not be reached for further comment before the Sun’s press time.
Another DUI checkpoint is scheduled for Dec. 29, according to an SMPD press release.
This article appears in Nov 16-23, 2017.