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Crime & Safety

Napa Police Check for DUI, Unlicensed Drivers

A community message from the City of Napa.

The Traffic Unit will be conducting a DUI/Drivers License checkpoint on Saturday, May 21, 2011 at an undisclosed location within the city limits between the hours of  6:00 p.m to 2:30 a.m. 

This is part of an ongoing campaign to reduce the number of persons killed and injured in alcohol involved crashes. DUI checkpoints are conducted to identify offenders and get them off the street, as well as bring awareness to our community of the dangers of impaired driving.

Over the course of the past three years, DUI collisions have claimed two lives and resulted in 238 injury crashes harming 286 of our friends and neighbors. 

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Statewide, overall traffic deaths declined by 23 percent, from 3,995 in 2007 to 3,081 in 2009. Total traffic fatalities are at their lowest levels in six decades.  

DUI deaths declined by 16 percent, from 1,132 in 2007 to 950 in 2009, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System.  

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Alcohol impaired deaths still make up the largest category of overall vehicle fatalities , with 31 percent of all deaths being caused by a drunk driver.  A DUI checkpoint is a proven effective method to lower this totally preventable crime.

Additionally, drivers will be checked to ensure that they have a valid driver’s license, since unlicensed drivers are over-represented in fatal crashes.   

The Napa Police Department seeks to send a clear message to those who are considering driving a motor vehicle after consuming alcohol and/or drugs:

"If we catch you driving buzzed, drunk or impaired by drugs, you will go to jail."

Remember, everyone is encouraged to help keep our roadways safe; Report Drunk Drivers – Call 911! 

Funding for this operation is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

How much is too much to drink before you take the wheel? Check out our video, , for a demonstration.

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