Police on lookout for DUI drivers, no seatbelts

Laguna Beach police officers will be at various checkpoints throughout the city this weekend to intercept alcohol and drug-impaired drivers, according to a police-issued news release.

Officers will staff areas with high frequencies of DUI-related collisions and or arrests. The patrol is part of the department’s ongoing traffic safety campaign.

DUI collisions have resulted in 60 injury crashes harming 85 people in Laguna Beach, Lt. Jeff Calvert said in the release.

California’s Office of Traffic Safety uses grant money to fund the program.

“California’s roadways are very much safer than they were before 2006,” traffic safety director Christopher J. Murphy said in the release.

Laguna Beach police arrested five people during a checkpoint on March 16.

To report drunk drivers, call 911.

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Police checking for seatbelt use

Laguna Beach police will watch for passengers not wearing seatbelts this weekend as part of the national “Click It or Ticket” campaign.

“Our officers are prepared to ticket anyone not wearing a seatbelt,” Lt. Jeff Calvert said in a release.

Deaths involving passengers not wearing seatbelts are more prevalent at night, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said.

Of 10,135 people killed at night in 2011, 62 percent of them were not wearing seatbelts during the crash, according to the Traffic Safety Administration.

Seatbelts saved 11,949 lives in the same year, the administration said.

The campaign will run through June 2.

For more on the “Click It or Ticket” program, visit https://www.nhtsa.gov.

—Bryce Alderton

Twitter: @Alderton Bryce