VCU Police Set Sobriety Checkpoint

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Virginia Commonwealth University Police will target drunken and drug-impaired drivers at an overnight checkpoint.

VCU Police will operate a sobriety checkpoint from 11 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 5, until 3 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 6.  The checkpoint will take place along the 700 block of West Main Street. Officers also will check for seatbelt compliance. 

The checkpoint is being funded through a Zero Tolerance Grant from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. 

A similar checkpoint in the fall of 2007 resulted in the screening of 493 vehicles. Police arrested six people for driving under the influence, and cited others for driving with revoked or suspended licenses or possessing drugs.

According to figures released this month by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 12,998 people in the United States were killed in alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes in 2007, down from 13,491 fatalities in 2006. In Virginia, 332 people were killed in alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes in 2007, up from 298 in 2006.