Sobriety Checkpoint for New Year’s Eve

San Diego police announced Thursday that they will establish a sobriety checkpoint somewhere in the city New Year’s Eve but won’t say where until two hours before it opens.

A state law enacted last Jan. 1 lowered the legal blood alcohol level for drivers from .10% to .08%, a move that has led to a 16% statewide increase in arrests and a 10% increase in convictions for the first 10 months of this year.

Between October, 1989, and September, 1990, San Diego police said, 8,238 people were arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol, a 9% increase over the previous 12 months.

From Dec. 21 to Christmas Day this year, 96 people were arrested in San Diego on suspicion of driving with alcohol or drugs in their systems.

Motorists who approach the sobriety checkpoint on New Year’s Eve--Monday night--starting at about 9 o’clock, will be greeted by an officer who will hand out a pamphlet on the hazards of drunk drinking and ask drivers if they have been drinking.

Based on what the officer observes of the driver’s condition or speech, the driver might be pulled over for further tests, according to Sgt. Ralph Priem.

Drivers will be given several sobriety tests, such as touching the nose or standing on one foot. If an officer determines that the driver is somehow impaired, he or she will be given a choice of a Breathalyzer test, blood test or urine test.

A driver who takes a Breathalyzer will either be released or arrested, depending on what the test shows. A driver who chooses a blood or urine test, which takes longer to process, will be arrested.

Because of recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings, police agencies must provide alternate routes around the sobriety checkpoint, and cannot keep motorists at a checkpoint for more than three minutes without pulling them over for further tests. The high court also ruled that a law enforcement agency must make public the sobriety checkpoint location.

Upon arrest, a motorist loses his driver’s license, is given a temporary operating permit for 45 days, and within 10 days must ask the state Department of Motor Vehicles for a hearing to get it back. First-offense drunk drivers can lose their licenses for four to six months. Second-offense drunk drivers can lose their licenses for up to a year.