| Dozen cited in drunk driving checkpoint Saturday in St. Robert |
By: Darrell Todd Maurina
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Posted: Monday, May 4, 2009 8:44 am
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ST. ROBERT, Mo. (May 4, 2009) — Continuing efforts to require seat belt usage and stop drunk driving are paying off, according to Sgt. Butch Hohman of the St. Robert Police Department.
Hohman’s department has been making extensive use of a grant that pays overtime to officers to conduct checkpoints to identify drunk drivers and those who aren’t wearing their seat belts, and in the process of checking for those violations sometimes find other problems.
In a statement released Sunday, Hohman said a late night Saturday and early morning Sunday sobriety checkpoint resulted in 283 vehicles being checked, with four people cited for being minors in possession of alcohol by consumption, five people cited for driving while intoxicated, two for driving while their license was suspended, and one for careless and imprudent driving.
Those citations occurred during a checkpoint that ran from Saturday night until Sunday morning.
There’s still room for progress, Hohman said.
“We are still showing that 2 percent of the drivers on our roadways between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. are under the influence of alcohol,” Hohman said in a prepared statement.
An earlier checkpoint on April 15 on Old Route 66 showed that seat belt usage increased to 98 percent from the previous month’s rate of 97 percent.
The checkpoints are conducted by St. Robert police using traffic safety grants that pay for the overtime of the officers. For major checkpoints, St. Robert firefighters and Mark Twain REACT volunteers typically assist with traffic control and setting up lighting for nighttime operations. Locations for the checkpoints have varied, but are usually on major routes through St. Robert that have adjacent parking lots where cars can be diverted for additional screening as needed.
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