The Manteca Police Department will be out in force this weekend looking for impaired drivers on the roadways.
And they’ll be stopping drivers somewhere in town to make sure that they’re operating their vehicles safely.
This week the agency distributed a press release announcing that they will be conducting a sobriety checkpoint inside of Manteca’s city limits on Friday, Sept. 1 starting at 6:30 p.m. and continuing on through to 2:30 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 2.
The location of the checkpoint was not announced in the press release, although the agency did say that the location of the checkpoints are chosen based on data showing incidents of impaired driving-related crashes.
“Impaired drives put others on the road at significant risk,” Manteca Police Department Traffic Officer Jose Plascencia said. “Any prevention measures that reduce the number of impaired drives on our roads significantly improves traffic safety.”
In the press release the agency said that motorists need to remember that impaired driving includes more than being under the influence of alcohol – noting that some prescription and over-the-counter medications may interfere with driving, and while both medicinal and recreational marijuana are legal, driving a motor vehicle under the influence of that or any other intoxicating substance is illegal.
And even if somebody driving under the influence is able to avoid causing an accident that injuries either their own passengers or other motorists on the road, simply getting caught can be a costly mistaken – costing first-time offenders up to $13,500 in fines and penalties as well as consequences from having a suspended license.
Funding for the sobriety checkpoint is coming from a grant by the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The grant funding is also used to pay for the overtime necessary to saturation patrols during holiday weekends and during times of year when consumption of alcohol and other intoxicating substances statistically increases.
To contact Bulletin reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.
