Between Aug. 16 and Sept. 2, law enforcement officials stationed at DWI checkpoints around the state arrested 2,866 motorists, about 120 more than during the same period last year.
Wake County recorded 257 arrests, the most in the state. With 181, Mecklenburg was third.
Per a statement from the N.C. Department of Transportation:
In addition to DWI arrests, local and state law enforcement officers issued 105,666 traffic and criminal citations statewide. They issued 9,568 safety belt and 1,376 child passenger safety violations; 29,184 speeding violations; and 3,185 drug charges. In addition, they apprehended 2,938 fugitives from justice and recovered 173 stolen vehicles.
Sobriety checkpoints have been called into question by state courts and the Supreme Court. (Read more on the 1990 decision to uphold them here.) North Carolina, which conducts them weekly, is one of 38 states that allows them. California holds about 2,500 annually.
- Scott Davidson (Flickr Creative Commons)
This article appears in Sep 11-17, 2013.
