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Police conducting DUI checkpoints Sunday

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The Laguna Beach Police Department will be conducting DUI checkpoints from 9 p.m. Saturday to 3 a.m. Sunday in areas with high numbers of DUI collisions or arrests.

The DUI saturation patrols are part of the department’s ongoing traffic safety campaign, according to a news release.

In California, DUIs accounted for 774 deaths in 2010, according to a news release. Such deaths had fallen dramatically for five straight years; however, 2011 numbers indicate that DUI deaths remained the same as 2010, the press release said.

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“Over the course of the past three years, DUI collisions have resulted in 60 injury crashes harming 85 of our friends and neighbors,” Lt. Jeff Calvert said in a statement.

DUIs have a negative impact on the economy: A fatality costs about $1.4 million, an injury $70,000 and a crash that damages property averages nearly $9,000, according to the release.

Funding for the program comes from a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety.

“California’s roadways are very much safer than they were before 2006,” OTS Director Christopher J. Murphy said in a statement. “The Laguna Beach Police Department will be keeping the pressure on through enforcement and public awareness so that we can continue saving lives and reach the vision we all share — toward zero deaths, every one counts.”

For more information, contact Calvert at (949) 464-6655 or jcalvert@lagunabeachcity.net.

alisha.gomez@latimes.com

Twitter: @agomezbeman

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