The Ohio State Highway Patrol and the Montgomery County OVI Task Force on Friday night conducted two sobriety checkpoints.
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The checkpoints were from:
- 7 to 9 p.m. on U.S. 35 West at state Route 49
- 10 p.m. to midnight on state Route 48 near Turner Road
State law requires OVI checkpoint times and locations to be announced in advance.
Lt. Geoffrey Freeman of the patrol’s Dayton Post was out at the first checkpoint on U.S. 35. He said the purpose of the OVI checkpoints is twofold.
“One is to educate the public about the dangers of drinking and driving, so when you see the traffic backed up here what’s happening is we’re stopping cars and we’re talking with folks and we’re looking for signs of impairment. If there’s no signs of impairment we give them a little card that explains what we’re doing and why and then we send them on their way,” he said.
“The other reason is enforcement, so if somebody is impaired there’s a little diversion area up the road that we’ll pull their car into and then we’ll put them through a field sobriety test. And if they are under the influence of alcohol or drugs at that point they are arrested.
“Our whole mission here is to save lives, either by education, which is important, and then also by enforcement, which if somebody comes through here under the influence they will be arrested,” Freeman said.
His message to anyone out drinking: “Have a designated driver or have somebody come get you. Don’t put yourself behind the wheel because if you do, that’s when bad things happen.”
