North Dakota Highway Patrol to conduct sobriety checkpoints in Grand Forks County

GRAND FORKS — The

North Dakota Highway Patrol

is scheduled to conduct a sobriety checkpoint and saturation patrol Friday, June 23 in the Grand Forks area.

The aim of the checkpoint and patrol is to “remove impaired drivers from the road,” a news release from the patrol stated.

Further saturation patrols will take place Saturday, June 24 as well. Those enforcement events are also designed to take impaired drivers off the road and lessen impaired driving-related crashes.

As of June 6, 31 fatal crashes have occurred on North Dakota roadways, leading to 35 deaths, the news release stated. Of the fatalities, six were attributed to alcohol.

“Our aim is to ensure North Dakota roadways are safe for the motoring public. Crashes resulting from driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs are preventable and present an unnecessary risk to others,” Sergeant Christopher A. Schaefer of the patrol’s northeast region stated via news release.

Schaefer advised motorists to make a plan before drinking and use a designated driver or ride share service to get home.

The patrol promised that results from the enhanced enforcement will be released within one week following the event.

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