Task force to conduct DWI checkpoint
Sgt. Jamie Vicker
The Northwest Missouri DWI Task Force has announced that it will conduct a sobriety checkpoint on an undisclosed date in May somewhere in Nodaway County.
Sgt. Jamie Vicker of the Nodaway County Sheriff’s Department said the task force usually conducts several checkpoints a year across a geographical area that embraces all or parts of Nodaway, Buchanan, Andrew, Clinton, and Caldwell counties.
Other participating agencies include sheriff’s departments in Buchanan and Andrew counties and police departments in St. Joseph, Lathrop (Clinton County), and Hamilton (Caldwell County).
The number of checkpoints held each year depends on available time and resources. Task force operations are funded with grants administered through the Missouri Division of Highway Safety.
As with past checkpoints, the Nodaway County enforcement event is to target a single road or highway and will probably involve 20 to 30 officers. Motorists approaching the checkpoint will encounter warning signs and orange cones placed to guide them safely through the area.
Officers will stop all automobiles and trucks, including 18-wheelers and other commercial vehicles.
Though the primary goal is to get impaired drivers off the road, Vicker said officers manning the checkpoints usually encounter other violations as well, everything from outstanding warrants to driving without a valid license and drug possession.
Consequences of drunken driving in Missouri can include jail time, loss of driver’s license, and installation of an ignition interlock device in the convicted driver’s vehicle
Similar to a breathalyzer, ignition interlocks prevent vehicles from starting if the driver’s breath sample indicates a blood-alcohol concentration above a programmed limit.
Other DWI penalties, court-mandated and otherwise, can include attorney fees, court costs, lost time at work, and increased insurance rates.
Missourians convicted of causing a fatal crash while driving under the influence can be charged with involuntary manslaughter, a felony carrying a prison term of up to seven years, a $5,000 fine, or both.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, drunken driving accidents in the United States claim the lives of more than 10,000 people a year. In 2012, on average, one person died every 51 minutes as the result of an alcohol-impaired vehicle crash.
