The Buellton Area of the California Highway Patrol (CHP) will conduct a sobriety/driver’s license checkpoint, 6 p.m.-midnight Friday, July 17 at SR-246 west of N. Refugio Road.

“All too often, community members are senselessly injured or killed on local roadways by intoxicated or unlicensed drivers,” said Lt. Jim Parish, commander of the Buellton area.

“The goal of the CHP is to ensure the safe passage of every motorist by conducting enforcement on roads where there is a high frequency of intoxicated or unlicensed drivers,” he said.

“A sobriety/driver’s license checkpoint is a proven, effective tool for achieving this goal and is designed to augment existing patrol operations,” Parish said. “By publicizing our efforts, we believe that we can deter motorists from driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and/or unlicensed.

“Our objective is to provide safety to our community and hold accountable those individuals who are driving while unlicensed or impaired,” said Parish.

Traffic volume permitting, all vehicles will be checked for drivers who are under the influence of alcohol or drugs or driving while unlicensed.

Direct questions regarding the sobriety checkpoint to C. Dowling, Buellton Area CHP public information officer, or Sgt. J. Boyd, 805-691-6160.

Funding for the checkpoint was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.