SOBRIETY CHECKPOINTS AND DRUNK DRIVING ARRESTS

The U.S. Supreme Court’s December decision not to hear a case challenging the constitutionality of police sobriety checks left local police agencies free to run such holiday road checks. Just seven county cities utilized the checks, though. Here are the results, with drunk-driving arrests reported for those cities that did not use the checkpoints:

Vehicles Sobriety Passing Drivers Drunk Driving City Checkpoint Through Tested Arrests Anaheim no -- -- Not available Brea yes; Dec. 23 2,652 33 14 Buena Park no -- -- 20 (Dec.24-Jan. 1) Costa Mesa no -- -- 25 (New Year’s Eve) Cypress no -- -- 19 (Dec.25-Jan. 1) Fountain Valley no -- -- 55 (Dec.25-Jan. 1) Fullerton no -- -- 6 (Dec. 25-Jan. 1) Garden Grove yes; Dec. 23 1,130 29 9 Huntington Beach yes; Dec. 20 800 26 14 Irvine yes; Dec. 21 728 28 10 Laguna Beach yes; Jan. 6 1,699 26 6 La Habra no -- -- 15 (Dec. 24-Jan. 1) La Palma no -- -- 1 (New Year’s Day) Los Alamitos yes; Dec. 23 7,000 50-60 3 Newport Beach no -- -- 104 (Dec.24-Jan.1) Orange no -- -- 25 (Dec. 24-Jan.1) Placentia no -- -- 34 (Dec. 1-31) Santa Ana no -- -- 208 (Dec. 1-31) Seal Beach yes; Dec. 10 632 10 4 Tustin no -- -- 26 (Dec.20-Jan. 1) Westminster no -- -- 15 (Dec.24-Jan.2) Yorba Linda no -- -- Not available County Sheriff * no -- -- 9 (Dec.24-Jan.2)

*Dana Point, Mission Viejo, San Juan Capistrano, Stanton, Villa Park and the county’s unincorporated areas fall under the sheriff’s jurisdiction.

THE ALCOHOL TOLL

Through the first 10 months of 1988, alcohol-related traffic accidents killed more people on county streets and roads than was the case for any of the nine preceding full years. Between January and October, there were 151 fatal accidents (also more than any of the nine years before) that killed 168 people. Here’s a look at the 1988 monthly trend as well as the nine years before:

1988 MONTH BY MONTH

ACCIDENTS VICTIMS Month Fatal Injury Killed Injured Oct* 11 444 12 696 Sep 18 456 18 711 Aug 21 459 23 703 Jul 14 467 16 706 Jun 16 504 19 821 May 14 471 15 740 Apr 20 512 20 796 Mar 11 477 17 725 Feb 12 398 14 628 Jan 14 444 14 678

** Most recent information available

YEAR TO YEAR TOTAL

ACCIDENTS VICTIMS Year Fatal Injury Killed Injured 1987 143 3,687 166 5,815 1986 143 3,729 155 5,833 1985 142 3,605 159 5,467 1984 134 3,612 151 5,576 1983 145 3,433 165 5,413 1982 114 3,557 122 5,331 1981 140 3,828 147 5,790 1980 135 3,954 151 5,957 1979 130 3,790 148 5,825

Sources: Individual cities; California Highway Patrol