It was anything but a typical night along Rancho Santa Margarita Parkway near Buena Suerta in Rancho Santa Margarita.

In the space of a little more than five hours, five suspects were arrested for DUI, six vehicles were towed and six other people arrested, four for unlicensed driver and two for possession of marijuana.

It is the kickoff of the “Over the Limit, Under Arrest” campaign geared to deter holiday revelers from driving on the highways while drunk.

The Department’s Traffic Unit began the campaign with a Sobriety Checkpoint set up in Rancho Santa Margarita. The Checkpoint is funded by a grant from the State of California Office of Traffic Safety and targets drivers who are driving a vehicle without a driver’s license or under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The ultimate goal is to reduce highway accidents, injuries and deaths.

In 2007, 12,998 people were killed in alcohol related accidents, Traffic Unit Sergeant Jerold Brittain told the Checkpoint crew; four times the number of members of the U.S. Armed Forces killed in Iraq.

A Sobriety Checkpoint is no simple operation.

The first task in setting up a Sobriety Checkpoint is to locate a road where there have been a high number of alcohol related traffic accidents and get approval to set up there.

Then you put down some signs, place 500 to 600 traffic cones in just the right places,  and position a portable booking station, a trailer equipped with floodlights and finally patrol cars with flashing yellow lights, a chase car, in case anybody attempts to flee, and a transport vehicle for those headed to jail. [more] 

If you do it just right and staff it with the right people you have an operating Sobriety Checkpoint.  “The City of Rancho Santa Margarita is very supportive of the effort,” Sergeant Brittain said.

The pattern of the traffic cones was complex at the Sobriety Checkpoint set up last week on Santa Margarita Highway near Buena Suerta in Rancho Santa Margarita.

The staff is a mix of Deputies, Reserve Deputies, Explorers and CSOs.

“The deputies are mostly working on their days off,” said Captain Ron White. “They get paid overtime (paid by the grant) but most are working because they are committed to making the roads safe for the community.”

Deputy Paul Villeneuve supervised the placement of the cones by eight other Deputies and eight Reserve Deputies. He made sure the Sobriety Checkpoint sign and other signs telling motorists to prepare to stop were in the right places.

The cones guided three lanes of traffic to one and then marked off a location in the center of the three lanes for five cars at a time to undergo primary screening.  Still ahead a secondary screening area near the curb is marked off.

The final inspection of the quarter-mile long checkpoint setup was conducted by Sergeant Brittain.

They must have done something right; the checkpoint netted five suspects arrested for Driving Under the Influence.

But it was no easy task. Helping the sworn personnel at The Checkpoint were 15 Explorer Scouts and several CSOs.

If the various signs, flashing yellow lights and orange traffic cones failed to signal to the motorist that a Sobriety Checkpoint was in operation then they learn about it from the Checkpoint Greeter; Motor Deputy Mark Haselton.

Earlier, at the briefing, Deputy Haselton had called out like an amusement park barker, “keep your hands and feet inside the ride.”

In the field, he is all business.  He informs the motorists that a DUI and driver’s license check is being conducted.  For the most part, he waves five cars through the checkpoint and directs five into the primary screening area.  He tags the windshield of the vehicles he directs to screening with a post it note with a number on it. The post it helps with the record keeping.

There were 476 vehicles directed into primary screening.

 “We have to do it systematically,” said Sgt. Brittain. “If we get away from the system, we have to have good reason.”

There are five Deputies and five Reserve Deputies working in the primary screening section. The Deputy talks to the driver and the Reserve Deputy handles the passenger side of the vehicle.

Deputy Villeneuve counsels the Primary Screening Deputies to keep the conversation polite but brief.

“If they have a license and they haven’t been drinking, send them on their way,” he counsels.

A Black & White equipped with a video camera is set up to record each Field Sobriety Test.

By 2140 hours the checkpoint is hopping.

“Good Evening,” Deputy Haselton says loudly to each motorist. “We’re operating a DUI and Drivers License check.”

He says to those selected for screening”:

“Please pull up as far to the right as your car can go.”

Two Reserve Deputies use light sticks to direct the cars into the screening lane.

The screening lane can handle five cars at a time.

A Deputy is on the driver’s side with a flashlight to check the driver’s license.

The primary screening deputy introduces himself or herself and also his or her partner. They explain that they are checking for drunk drivers and driver’s licenses and the driver is asked to produce a driver’s license. The motorist is also asked if he or she has been drinking.

A Reserve Deputy works the passenger side, using a flashlight to see if there is anything illegal in plain sight.

It is in the screening lane that the Deputies must determine whether there is reason to direct the vehicle to secondary screening.

There are 22 vehicles directed into secondary screening.

“Driver” is the call when a car is held for secondary screening.

The motorist and any passengers are asked to exit the vehicle and an Explorer gets behind the wheel and pulls it off into the secondary screening lane, the one closest to the curb and the exit end of the checkpoint.

In secondary screening the deputies check the vehicles from outside with flashlights and obtain permission to look inside the car when necessary.
Before long drivers and passengers are on the side of the road, the passengers sitting in chairs placed for them and the drivers undergoing questioning or preliminary checks to determine sobriety.

One of the tests is to use a narrow light to see how the motorist tracks the light with his or her eyes.

One car holds a driver without a license and his wife and two young children.

The mother and two children are placed in a Department truck to keep them out of the cold while they await a ride home.

At the mobile booking trailer, a Deputy has a suspected drunk driver seated on a bench and is checking how his eyes track a light.

Outside the trailer, a second DUI suspect is undergoing a Field Sobriety Test, showing how coordinated the arms and legs move.

Inside the trailer is an Intoximeter, used to measure blood alcohol levels. The suspect’s drivers license is swiped in the device. From the booking station, Deputies can also check to determine if there are any priors or warrants for the suspect.

In all, four men and one woman are held on suspicion of DUI. The number of women drinking and driving is on the rise.

The consequences of a DUI arrest are serious, the Auto Club estimates the cost in Southern California is about $13,500 for the first offense.