Traffic Safety Digest - Summer '96

Oxnard DUI and Seat Belt Enforcement	CALIFORNIA

PROJECT CHARACTERISTICS		PROGRAM AREA(S)
	Outstanding Community Involvement		Police Traffic Services Alcohol and Other Drugs

TYPE OF JURISDICTION
	City

TARGETED POPULATION(S)		JURISDICTION SIZE
	General Population		15,000

PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION

Prior to 1995, the Oxnard, California Police Department lacked the personnel and resources to establish and sustain a traffic law enforcement program. Traffic crashes caused by speed and by drunk driving were prevalent. During 1993, DUI caused 253 crashes, resulting in 101 injuries and seven fatalities, yet drunk driving arrests were declining. Additionally, a seat belt survey revealed a compliance rate of only 68 percent.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

The goals of the Oxnard Roadside Sobriety Checkpoint Program were to:

Reduce fatal and alcohol-related crashes by 15 percent from the 1993 total of 107 to 92
Increase seat belt compliance from 68 percent to 81.3 percent.

STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES

The primary thrust of this project was to make available to the Oxnard Police Department specialized equipment enabling them to expand their traffic enforcement and educational capabilities. To this end, the Oxnard Police Department purchased:

A motor home to be used as a mobile command post for sobriety, license and seat belt checkpoints
Five AlcoSensor IV Preliminary Breath Test (PBT) Devices
Public information and educational materials.

Oxnard DUI and Seat Belt Enforcement (cont'd)

During 1995, the department conducted 14 publicized sobriety and driver's license checkpoints. A Forensic Alcohol Supervisor of the Ventura County Crime Lab was routinely invited to participate in the checkpoints.

RESULTS

The 14 sobriety and driver's license checkpoints utilizing the DUI "motor home" resulted in:

13,464 vehicles passing through the checkpoint
12,400 vehicles screened
188 field sobriety tests
73 DUI arrests
14 arrests for either felony warrants, misdemeanor warrants, public intoxication, providing false information to an officer, possession of narcotics, or carrying a concealed handgun
376 citations for license violations
266 vehicles impounded pursuant to 14601 and 14602.6 VC.

This increased level of enforcement is credited with the following:

Fatal and injury alcohol-related crashes dropped 31 percent the first quarter, 28 percent the second quarter, and 10.7 percent the third quarter.
Seat belt compliance rose to 84.7 percent, a 24.5 percent increase.