(ABOVE) Actor Gary Busey take a Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus  (HGN)  test at  Santa Monica Police Department  sobriety (DUI) / driver’s license checkpoint in the 300 block of Pico Boulevard on Wednesday, March 17, 2010, Saint Patrick's Day. Busey passed the sobriety field test. (top) Santa Monica Police Officers conduct sobriety tests at their check point on Wednesday.

 

Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
 
Officers from the Santa Monica Police Department were contacting drivers in the City of Santa Monica to confirm their sobriety and driver’s license status. This is the first of several checkpoints to be conducted over the next 12-month period.
 
The Santa Monica Police Department reminds drivers if you plan on drinking, have a designated driver or call a taxi cab to take you safely home.
 
Since 2005, the number of alcohol involved fatalities has been dropping, thanks to efforts like this.  But law enforcement and the public must continue to work toward zero deaths.
 
“Law enforcement officers are doing more to remove drunk drivers from California’s streets and highways thanks to our DUI traffic safety funding,” said Christopher J. Murphy, Director of the California Office of Traffic Safety.  “But everyone can help make their communities safer; if you see a drunk driver – call 9-1-1.”

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