San Clemente Hosts DUI & License Checkpoint 2-13-2015

Sheriff's Department Sets Up Checkpoint In San Clemente

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 SAN CLEMENTE, CA - Some residence in San Clemente were treated to a surprise Friday evening while driving northbound on El Camino Real.  The Sheriff's Department set up a DUI & drivers license checkpoint station in front of Rite Aid using some of the parking lot for their the command and control and test area.  The parking lot was also used as a temporary vehicle parking area, where people with expired drivers licenses could call a licensed driver to pick them up, or where vehicles to be towed were staged.

Although it is not against the law to avoid a checkpoint before you enter it, you must not violate ANY of the traffic laws while doing so.  Some motorists found themselves doing just that and were immediately pulled over by roving Sheriff's squad cars and motorcycles. When I spoke to one such officer he stated that he had pulled over seven vehicles for traffic offences, one of which was making a turn from the wrong lane.  He also stated that some drivers thought there was construction ahead and were just trying to avoid a delay in their travel.

Funding for checkpoints come from grants issued by the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Although checkpoints like this one are perceived to be in the interest of public safety, I can not help thinking back to my school days and learning of how checkpoints were used in Germany, where people were stopped indiscriminately and were demanded to show their papers.