Sometimes failure is a good thing.

While Lathrop Police Services didn’t issue any citations for driving under the influence prior to Christmas at a Lathrop Road checkpoint, Police Chief Ryan Biedermann views the results as a win for the people of Lathrop – a good marker heading in the holiday season that people are being more responsible when it comes to climbing behind the wheel of a car.

“In this day and age there is really no excuse for drinking and driving, “Biedermann said. “We checked over 400 cars and while we issued 12 citations for different things – unlicensed drivers, etc. – the checkpoint went off without a hitch and we didn’t have anybody under the influence which is a good thing.

“We have to advertise that we’re doing it so if people wanted to be nefarious then they absolutely could, but on a busy stretch like Lathrop Road to have that many cars go through without anybody under the influence is definitely a positive.”

It was funded by a grant from California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration  that pays for the overtime of the officers actively looking to identify and remove those under the influence from local roadways.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than 10,000 people died in DUI-related crashes in California from 2003 through 2012, and in a poll conducted of drivers in the state 1.8 percent claimed that they had climbed behind the wheel after they had imbibed enough to be impaired in the last 30 days – just slightly under the national average of 1.9 percent of those that responded to the survey.

To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.