DUI Checkpoint Tonight Through Sunday

It's Saturday night lights -- police lights. And if you are planning to be under the influence, do not drive. That's the message from Long Beach Police Department, which is conducting a DUI checkpoint from 8 p.m. Saturday to 4 a.m. Sunday.

The following announcement was made Friday by Long Beach police spokeswoman Nancy Pratt about the checkpoint in the South Division of the city:

"DUI checkpoints are a proven enforcement tool effective in reducing the number of persons killed and injured in alcohol-involved crashes. Research shows that crashes involving alcohol drop by an average of 20 percent when well-publicized checkpoints are conducted often enough.

"Officers will be contacting drivers passing through the checkpoint and looking for signs of alcohol and/or drug impairment.  Officers will also check for proper licensing and will strive to limit the delay to motorists. Drivers caught driving impaired can expect jail, license suspension, insurance increases, as well as fines, fees, DUI classes, and other expenses that can exceed $10,000.

"'Over the course of the past three years, DUI collisions have claimed 14 lives and resulted in 306 injury crashes harming 437 of our friends and neighbors,' said Long Beach Police Traffic Section Sergeant Douglas Bender."