MISSION VIEJO : Sobriety Checkpoint Success Is Hailed

As cars began backing up at a sobriety checkpoint set up over the holidays by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department in Mission Viejo, Lt. George Johnson leaned over to apologize to a passenger, a young woman, for the delay.

“She told me not to worry about the inconvenience if we could get drunk drivers off the road, because her uncle had been killed” by one, Johnson related.

At the sobriety checkpoints during the three-day Christmas and New Year’s weekends, sheriff’s deputies stopped 2,380 cars and arrested 17 people on suspicion of drunk driving. But the real victory, said the deputies and Mission Viejo officials, was the positive reaction from most motorists.

“The acceptance we had from the public over the checkpoints was striking,” Johnson said. “Out of the thousands of cars that went through, not once did we get a negative comment from the public. I was overwhelmed.”

These were the first-ever sobriety checkpoints by the Sheriff’s Department, and deputies had expected to receive complaints from irate motorists, Johnson said.

Instead, “People were giving us thumbs up and thanking us for being there,” Johnson added.

Johnson described the motorists’ reaction as a sign of the times, adding: “I think their reaction reflects a new public attitude through their willingness to be inconvenienced if it gets drunk drivers off the road.”

More people were being driven by designated drivers, and some holiday party-goers even rented limousines, Johnson said.

“I see it like the no-smoking push,” he said. “It didn’t happen overnight, but the time has come for people to see the carnage on the street and realize that drunk driving is so preventable. Programs like these have been working.”

Some drivers actually parked their cars when they saw the sobriety checkpoints, said Councilman William S. Craycraft, who visited all three checkpoints over the holidays.

“I was told by some officers that they actually pulled off to the side of the road, got out and locked their cars, then walked away,” Craycraft said.

Craycraft, who helped publicize the checkpoints during his recently completed term as mayor of Mission Viejo, said that arresting drunk drivers was a secondary goal.

“I think the big impact the checkpoint had was its psychological effect. The visibility of the checkpoint alerts people to the fact that you shouldn’t drink and drive,” he said, adding:

“I think our checkpoints were an outstanding success.”

Craycraft said he plans to ask the City Council to sponsor more sobriety checkpoints during 1990.

“I would like us to set up more checkpoints on days like Memorial Day,” he said. “We need to keep the momentum going.”