A grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety has allowed the SFSU Public Safety Department to purchase new, updated traffic enforcement equipment. In exchange for the funding, the department agreed to conduct 12 sobriety checkpoints on city streets adjacent to campus.

"What we want to accomplish is to make everyone who drives in the vicinity of the campus aware that there is active enforcement of DUI (driving under the influence) laws," Kirk Gaston, commander and associate director of public safety, said. "If we get just one dangerous driver off the road, we've succeeded."

The first checkpoint, conducted by SFSU officers on July 30 at 19th Avenue and Buckingham Way, sent one driver to jail.

Led by Lt. Tony Duenas, the checkpoint was staffed by SFSU police officers who have been trained in the detection of alcohol and/or drug-impaired drivers. Equipment included state-of-the-art, hand-held, breath-testing devices, which provide an accurate measure of blood-alcohol concentrations of suspected drunk drivers. A total of 464 cars were stopped and 10 sobriety tests were given. The person arrested for DUI was not an SFSU student.

"All too often, drunk drivers jeopardize the safety of motorists on the roadways, by causing otherwise preventable traffic accidents involving property damage and/or injuries," Kim Wible, director of public safety, said. A sobriety checkpoint is an effective tool to stop this and is designed to augment existing patrol operations."

The next checkpoint will be held in September. "Traffic volume permitting, all vehicles will be checked and drivers who are under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs should expect to be arrested," Gaston said.

"We want to send a clear message to those considering mixing alcohol and/or drugs with driving," Wible added. "Don't do it."

-- Denize Springer
Photo: William Morris