Full Notification

SUNNYVALE, CA. - On August 18, 2018, between 9 p.m. and 3 a.m., the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety will operate a safety and sobriety checkpoint. The primary purpose of the checkpoint is to promote public safety; to increase awareness of the dangers associated with drinking and driving, and serve as a deterrent to potential impaired drivers.

Vehicles traveling westbound on El Camino Real between Henderson and Maria Avenues will be randomly stopped. Officers will be looking for signs of alcohol and/or drug impairment, with officers checking drivers for proper licensing, delaying motorists only momentarily. When possible, specially trained officers will be available to evaluate those suspected of drug-impaired driving, which now accounts for a growing number of impaired driving crashes.

In recent years, California has seen a disturbing increase in drug-impaired driving crashes. Sunnyvale DPS supports the new effort from the Office of Traffic Safety that aims to educate all drivers that “DUI Doesn’t Just Mean Booze.” If you take prescription drugs, particularly those with a driving or operating machinery warning label, you might be impaired enough to get a DUI. Marijuana can also be impairing, especially in combination with alcohol or other drugs, and can result in a DUI.

Sunnyvale DPS offers these reminders to ensure you have a safe night of fun that doesn’t involve a DUI:

• Decide before you go out whether you plan to drink or drive. You can’t do both.
• If you plan to drink, designate a sober driver before going out or map out another safe way to get home by taxi, ride-share or public transportation. You can also look up designated driver services in your area using the National Directory of Designated Driver Services (NDDDS).
• See your friend or another patron impaired trying to get behind the wheel? Take the keys and help them make other arrangements to get where they are going safely.
• Report drunk drivers – Call 9-1-1

Funding for this checkpoint is provided to the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

For media inquiries contact Capt. Shawn Ahearn at (408) 598-9186.