Checkpoints and patrols are planned

By Scott Marshall

Published: December 3, 2008

Amherst County sheriff’s deputies will be focusing on detecting, testing and arresting impaired drivers every weekend through the new year.

Amherst deputies will conduct checkpoints, which take only a minute to drive through. They will ask for a driver’s license and ask if the driver has been drinking alcohol.

The majority of drivers pass through the checkpoints quickly, and the checkpoints can be invaluable at stopping drunken drivers, said Amherst sheriff’s Lt. Greg Turner.

Besides checkpoints, deputies also will be conducting concentrated patrols in which they focus exclusively on detecting impaired drivers, a technique known as “saturation patrols.”

“Most of ours will be in saturation patrols in problem areas,” said Amherst sheriff’s Capt. Mike Robinson.

Checkpoints and saturation patrols often are used where deputies have noticed problems and where residents have warned that they have encountered suspected drunken drivers. Sometimes, even when the locations of checkpoints are disclosed ahead of time, impaired motorists still are arrested when they try to drive through.

Even if no one is arrested for drunken driving at a checkpoint, the point is to tell the public deputies will detect and arrest them if they are, Robinson said.

“Checkpoints are more as a deterrent than they are (for) catching drunken drivers,” Robinson said. “If we can keep a few intoxicated drivers off the road, then that makes some think and stay home.”

At least one time in the next few weeks, Amherst deputies team with the Lynchburg Police Department for a checkpoint, because several officers are needed to ensure safety and evaluate the large volume of drivers who pass through checkpoints, Robinson said.

Besides the patrols, deputies also have begun more intensive enforcement in areas where motorists speed, specifically on the Madison Heights bypass but not just on that highway.

Nationwide in December 2007, nearly 1,000 people died in crashes that involved a driver with a blood-alcohol limit of 0.08 or higher, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Any driver with a level that high is considered too impaired t o drive.

Besides Amherst deputies, Nelson deputies and other law enforcement agencies in Bedford, Campbell, Charlotte, Pittsylvania and Prince Edward counties and the Virginia State Police will be increasing anti-DUI patrols.

A specialized effort by Virginia State Police during two days in November netted 21 suspected drunken drivers on Interstates 81 and 95.

News & Advance staff writer Carrie Sidener contributed to this story.