JCPD plans sobriety checkpoints for Fourth of July

Courtesy Appen Newspapers

June 29, 2009 Johns Creek –

This Fourth of July, Johns Creek Police will set up sobriety check points and use new breath-alcohol testing equipment to enforce Georgia's DUI laws during Operation Zero Tolerance, a state-wide crackdown on drunk driving.The check points will be at undisclosed, random locations and in effect before, during and after the holiday to discourage people from drinking and driving during one of the state's most heavily traveled periods. JCPD officers will use a new portable intoxilyzer trailer and non-invasive Intoxilyzer 5000 machine to test the breath alcohol level of drivers in the field, allowing more efficient sobriety road checks. "The trailer will allow us to run the checks longer and more often and put more impaired drivers in jail," said Sgt. Ronnie Young, head of the JCPD Traffic Unit. "We simply want to reduce the number of alcohol-related incidents and make our roads safer."

One out of five traffic accidents in Georgia are alcohol-related and nearly half of the traffic accidents during the Fourth of July holiday travel period (June 19-July 5) involve at least one drunk driver, according to the Georgia Governor's Office of Highway Safety. Georgia follows an "Over the Limit, Under Arrest" DUI arrest policy, which means that drivers with blood alcohol concentrations (BAC) of .08 or above will be arrested and taken to jail. No warning tickets. No exceptions. Persons under the age of 21 operating a motor vehicle with a .02 percent blood-alcohol level or above are subject to DUI penalties.