Working under a grant provided by the Department of Public Safety/Office of Traffic Safety, the Sparks Police Department conducted a DUI checkpoint Friday evening from 6 to 10 p.m. The checkpoint was conducted in the 1900 block of Victorian Avenue and focused only on vehicles traveling in the westbound lanes.

During the checkpoint, officers stopped 674 vehicles. The officer’s main objective was to locate impaired drivers, but they were also looking for seat belt and car seat violations. Enforcement action taken during the checkpoint resulted in 33 citations for no seat belt, six citations for car seat violations, two citations for minors in possession of alcohol, 42 citations for offenses such as no insurance, registration violations, careless driving and no driver’s licenses, six DUI screenings and two DUI arrests.

Officers were pleased with the low number of impaired drivers but concerned with the high number of drivers who were not wearing their seat belts or did not have their children properly restrained. As of June 25, the Sparks Police Department had made 215 DUI-related arrests, with 183 of those involving accidents.

The Sparks Police Department plans on conducting more of these checkpoints in the coming months in an attempt to reduce the number of accidents involving impaired drivers and to reduce the number of accident-related injuries as a result of vehicle occupants not being properly restrained.