Kevin Davies
Staff Writer

Sobriety checkpoints have been taking the peaceful city of La Verne by storm lately.

They are popping up throughout the city and at obscure times of the day and night.

These checkpoints are designed to stop drivers from driving under the influence of alcohol and punish those that are caught breaking the law.
Breaking the law at these checkpoints consists of not only driving intoxicated, but also not having a valid driver’s license, registration, or insurance.

“We are not trying to be an inconvenience for the residents,” said Captain Rich Aragon of the La Verne Police Department. “We are trying to mix things up for the city and make it a safer place for the responsible drivers to be. In just a five-to-six hour checkpoint, we typically stop 20-30 drivers of all ages breaking the law in some form.”

The checkpoints are helping slow down drunk driving to a point and are placing some sort of fear in potential drunk drivers, but the city is far from ridding itself of this serious problem.

“While I would never drive intoxicated, I might have a few beers at a local watering hole and drive home, but I will never take a main street home because I don’t want to deal with the hassle from the La Verne Police,” senior liberal studies major Robbie Jeffers said.

“Because of my approach, it definitely makes me wonder what the deal is with the definitely intoxicated drivers that somehow make it home without legal action on an almost nightly basis,” Jeffers said.

The local checkpoints have come at 7 a.m., noon and other hours throughout the day and are being placed on the city’s main streets of Arrow Highway, White and Fruit Street.

Although the points are supposed to make driving in the city safer for the city’s responsible drivers, the checkpoints are being advertised in the Daily Bulletin to warn residents.

This is allowing irresponsible drivers to be smart about where they drive and when to skip over the checkpoints. The irresponsible drivers can beat the checkpoints, which in turn become a hassle for other drivers trying to get to work or class.

“I have actually been late to a class because of a checkpoint on Arrow Highway,” senior political science major Blaine Bacher said. “In a perfect world, these checkpoints would eliminate irresponsible driving, but I continue to see the same people in Nick’s or T-Philips get drunk and drive home, only to be seen in the next couple of nights repeating the behavior.”

“Obviously, the checkpoints are not stopping the drunk driving enough and are becoming a huge inconvenience to the responsible drivers,” Bacher said.

Kevin Davies can be reached at kdavies@ulv.edu.