PennDOT, Police, To Enforce DUI Checkpoints this Weekend

PennDOT is supporting impaired driving enforcement this weekend in eastern Montgomery County as part of its 2011 distribution of $4.2 million in federal funds, which pays for police efforts to get impaired drivers off the road.

Starting Friday (May 13), through the weekend, several local police departments in eastern Montgomery County will participate in impaired-driving enforcement. There will be a checkpoint in Whitemarsh Township and patrols in several locations. The participating police departments are Abington Township, Cheltenham Township, Upper Moreland Township, Lower Moreland Township, Upper Dublin Township and Whitemarsh Township.  

This year PennDOT’s impaired-driving enforcement investment of $4.2 million will pay for approximately 900 sobriety checkpoints (overtime and other associated costs) around the state. Locally, $618,000 will be distributed to local police departments in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties this year.

PennDOT’s overall distribution also includes $1.6 million to help fund state police impaired-driving enforcement efforts.

According to PennDOT statistics, there were 444 alcohol-related highway fatalities in Pennsylvania in 2010, about 34 percent of 1,324 total highway deaths in the state that year. 

In southeast Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties), 66 of the region’s 226 total highway deaths in 2010 were alcohol-related.

To learn more about PennDOT’s efforts to prevent impaired driving or find information on the department’s other safety initiatives, visit www.DriveSafePA.org.