Nevada Police Step Up DUI Checkpoints for New Year's Eve
The Sparks Police Department is teaming up with several other agencies to implement Nevada DUI Checkpoints on New Year's Eve. Grants made by the Department of Public Safety, Office of Traffic Safety are making it possible for additional officers to be added to the task force. In 2011, Sparks had four fatal car crashes which involved drunk driving.
Also called "sobriety checkpoints," Nevada DUI Checkpoints are when police cordon off certain areas of a high-traffic road to check drivers for signs of drunk driving. Every car which goes through the checkpoint is stopped, and the police will ask the driver if he/she has had anything to drink. If the police suspect the driver is under the influence, the police will conduct field sobriety tests including the one-legged stand, the walk-and-turn, and the horizontal gaze nystagmus eye test.
Nevada DUI Checkpoints are common over holiday weekends such as July Fourth. In order for a checkpoint to be legal, the police must abide by various regulations including using a flashing red light that's visible to oncoming traffic. It's illegal to drive through a checkpoint without stopping, and the driver may face high fines or even prison depending on whether the driver caused injuries.
For more on this story go to: http://www.foxreno.com/news/news/crime-law/dui-enforcement-campaign-setup-christmas-and-new-y/nF7n5/
To learn about what happens if someone gets arrested at a DUI checkpoint in Nevada, watch our informational video:
