VCU Police to set up sobriety checkpoint Friday

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RICHMOND, Va. (July 12, 2006) – Virginia Commonwealth University Police will target drunken and drug-impaired drivers in the 700 block of West Main Street on Friday night, July 14.

VCU Police will operate a sobriety checkpoint from 11:50 p.m. until 4 a.m. along West Main Street at South Pine Street. Officers also will check for seatbelt compliance.

According to the National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration, nearly 17,000 people -- or 40 percent of all traffic-related fatalities in the United States -- were killed in alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes in 2004, the latest year for which figures are available. Drugs other than alcohol, such as marijuana and cocaine, are involved in 18 percent of motor-vehicle driver deaths.

The checkpoint is being coordinated through Checkpoint Strikeforce, a statewide program to raise public awareness about drunken driving.  Statistics released by Checkpoint Strikeforce show 343 people died in alcohol-related crashes in Virginia in 2004, compared with 361 such deaths in 2003, and 375 in 2002. 

Since the inception of Checkpoint Strikeforce in 2002, about a quarter of a million Virginia drivers have been stopped at sobriety checkpoints. Sobriety checkpoints consistently have reduced alcohol-related crashes, typically by about 20 percent, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Richmond Police department and ABC agents are expected to participate in Friday's checkpoint.

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Editor's Note: A staging area will be established at the checkpoint for media and other official observers who make prior arrangements.