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Which DUI Checkpoints Will Police Officers Stop You?

After looking over the last year's data, see what DUI checkpoint locations in San Rafael will yield the most arrests, sobriety tests, tows and citations.

In the past year, San Rafael police have DUI checkpoints in the Canal, Terra Linda and West End neighborhoods, all yielding very low drunken driving arrests.

Of the three checkpoints held in the Canal neighborhood, only one was arrested for DUI, according to the San Rafael Police Department's archive. On the border of San Rafael and San Anselmo, four were arrested for DUI, the largest number for the entire year. The Terra Linda checkpoint on Manuel T Freitas Parkway and Las Gallinas Avenue had the highest rate of field sobriety tests at 2.6 percent.

DUI checkpoint locations are selected after an analysis of traffic collision data that indicates a high percentage of DUI-involved collisions in the area, according to police spokeswoman Margo Rohrbacher. The data included in the map above does not include the police department's satruation patrols, where officers roam the streets looking for drunken drivers instead of setting up a stationary checkpoint.

In mid-2012, the California Office of Traffic Safety awarded a $200,000 grant to the San Rafael Police Department that focuses on those who get behind the wheel after drinking too much or using drugs that impair driving.

In addition to multi-agency DUI task force deployments and local saturation patrols, a large part of grant funding will go to the checkpoints, which will be highly visible and highly publicized events meant to make arrests and prevent impaired driving in the first place.

Crashes involving alcohol drop by an average of 20 percent when well-publicized checkpoints are conducted often enough, Rorhbacher told Patch.  According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), checkpoints have provided the most effective documented results of any of the DUI enforcement strategies, while yielding considerable cost savings of $6 for every $1 spent.

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Roger January 14, 2013 at 04:14 pm
I was under the impression that DUI checkpoints always yielded many more tickets and arrests for other matters such as driving on suspended, no registration or insurance, or outstanding tickets/warrants. I would like Ms Ely to post these stats. If the police receive a grant to conduct DUI checks and net income from other matters it sounds like a good 2-fer double dip.
Nicole Ely (Editor) January 14, 2013 at 05:25 pm
Hey Roger,
If you click on points of the map, there should be a list of stats regarding tows, tickets and everything else the police department provided. Let me know if you can't see it.
Michael January 14, 2013 at 07:00 pm
based on the stats from each checkpoint it seems we have a much larger problem with unlicensed drivers or those driving under a suspended license than we do with DUI drivers. I also understand that unlicensed drivers are responsible for a significantly higher number of accidents statistically. Might be an interesting follow up story to tell us what exactly happens (or does not happen) to someone who gets caught driving who is not a licensed driver. What is the process for arresting them, booking them, how do the courts treat them etc. Just an idea.
Anthony January 14, 2013 at 08:38 pm
I just read an article the other day about Unlicensed Drivers being the most dangerous on the road. So why do we just give them a ticket and let them move on? How many of them are here illegally? Oh yeah, we can't find that out thanks to Marin County!
Roger January 15, 2013 at 12:39 pm
Why so many unlicensed drivers? Good question. I believe one significant factor is the high price of traffic tickets, especially red light camera tickets - now $490.00. I talk to many who have ignored them until DMV puts a hold on their license. I am sure there are many who may cancel their auto insurance to come up with the money to pay the fine. Some Bay Area cities issue more camera tickets than all other tickets combined. Fremont, Newark, Hayward which have high numbers of tickets in relation to traffic enforcement officers. Interesting story idea.

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Ciel Niesen-Love June 15, 2013 at 07:41 pm
I, for one, am glad they're finally doing this. I have watched for years as Marin has ignored theRead More population growth that has affected us all. Not wanting to put in a commuter train, until the traffic lining the freeway is backed up into another county in the morning, is just one example of this. Then we have the fact that most of the children that my husband and I went to school with in Terra Linda have had to move to other counties because we can't find affordable housing in this one. To top it all off, it seems that the ones who have blocked us from making the smaller additions throughout the county have been people directly involved in the real estate industry, or just local home owners so worried about the value of their homes going down, that they fail to see the larger picture. So here we are, about to make a stride in alleviating the problem, and instead of rallying to make our communities better, we're trying to make it more difficult for the people who live and grew up here to still remain close to their families, not to mention the disabled adults and large elderly population in this county that are in need of this, as well. Some of the teacher's who work in this district have to commute in that traffic every morning, because they can't afford to live in this county, either. It's a sad commentary on where our priorities are when we can't support each other as a community.
John Parulis June 17, 2013 at 11:44 am
Ciel......we're talking big box freeway developments that will add tremendous traffic, schooling andRead More tax burdens to our community. Your ideas about population growth in Marin are off.
Ciel Niesen-Love June 17, 2013 at 02:49 pm
I know the population in Marin is 1% per year, but why do you think that is? People are livingRead More longer and our children are the healthiest in the country. I'll tell you why. It's because the children grow up and move out of the county, because it's not affordable. Here is an example of my latest thoughts on the matter: As the member of a Native American tribe, I have to say that I really resent being told where I should be able to live by an immigrant such as Richard Hall. I believe that roots are important and even if the growth rate has been 1%, it's only because most of the people who have grown up here can not afford to live here and move away. The elderly who make up a large percent of the population here are living longer due to medical advances and who do you suppose will take care of them? People such as myself and for not nearly enough money to live here. So what do you propose? You think that I should move to the East Bay or the North Bay and commute? Well, due to the lack of transportation support, that sound so lovely, let me tell you. Also, the children in Marin are the healthiest in the country according to a recent article I've read. Lower children death rates and such, so who is supposed to teach them and provide care for them and for not enough money to live here? Well, many teachers and care providers that I know that have to commute or live multiple roommates. You have successfully produced a community that only grows 1% per year. Congratulations. Through your grassroots efforts of blocking housing and transportation for years and claiming they don't live up to your standards, meanwhile not providing any pushes for what you might actually feel is smarter you have shut out your county's own children and hard working patriots. So, we can work for minimum wage taking care of your elderly, your children, your precious houses and cars, but God forbid, our children go to school with yours, or that you might actually have to bump into us at the supermarket and say "hi". This is the attitude which had prevailed here and I and many other people I talk to in my neighborhood and that I've grown up with are sick of it. Also, I'd like to point out that we all work hard, and the opportunity to work has been at the help of all of the people in our communities who have helped rear us. Teachers, nurses, doctors, firemen, policeman, babysitters, and many more. Just because some jobs like teaching or care giving don't provide with as much money, doesn't make them less important. In fact, my grandma used to tell me it "God's work". It takes a village to raise your children and it took a village to raise you all.