Police return to Route 1 checkpoint

University Police will operate a sobriety checkpoint on Route 1 Aug. 20 as part of the annual efforts to cut down on drunk driving.

Starting in the late evening, officers will stop every northbound driver at Rossborough Drive and check for impaired motorists. The location was selected because of a preprodernance of DUI on that stretch of roadway.

"We average about nine DUIs during a checkpoint," checkpoint manager Lt. Robert Mueck said. "I don't want to call that a win because that means there were nine people out there that were driving intoxicated. A win would be that we don't catch anyone, because that would mean nobody is driving under the influence."

Under state law, police must notify drivers of checkpoints, and drivers are allowed to turn around and avoid being stopped. The state has a "Toward Zero Deaths" goal for August, which aims to eliminate automobile fatalities due to alcohol and other preventable causes.

Bartenders and workers will also let their patrons know about the checkpoint, Mueck said.

"The bars announce that the checkpoint is happening that night, which is good because it makes people think about what they are about to do," he said.

Drivers who go through the checkpoint face being stopped by officers who are trained to recognize the signs of impaired driving, Mueck said. If the officer has any reason to suspect the driver is impaired, he or she will pull the driver over and determine with a field sobriety test whether the person should be driving, he said.

The University Police have joined with national campaign Checkpoint Strikeforce, and station personnel have volunteered to help bring the checkpoint to life.

"Drunk driving is one crime that is 100 percent preventable. Our agency takes DUI enforcement extremely seriously. The number of DUI related fatalities on Maryland roadways is still at unacceptable levels," University Police Chief David Mitchell said in a written statement. "We hope this checkpoint can highlight our efforts to combat drunk driving and hopefully act as a deterrent."

The sobriety checkpoint targets all citizens, not just university students. When determining which state highways could serve as the ideal sites for checkpoints, police examine the number of alcohol-related crashes and DUIs in a single area.

To hammer home the anti-DUI message, police are memorializing Anthony Jones, a Maryland State Police trooper who was killed by a drunk driver in 2004. A picture of Jones will be placed at the checkpoint so incoming drivers will be reminded of the potential impacts of drunk driving.

"We do this so that people see that this is personal. There is more to drunk driving than just affecting you, it affects other people," Mueck said. "Hopefully it will put the message out that people are losing their lives because of impaired drivers."

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