Pittsburgh-area police trying to crack down on rise of DUIs with checkpoints

NORTH STRABANE TOWNSHIP, Pa. (KDKA) -- More than 50 people were charged with DUIs at checkpoints in Washington, Butler and Jefferson counties over the weekend. Police were trying to crack down on people mixing alcohol and drugs with driving.

According to one of the departments that was part of that DUI checkpoint, North Strabane Township, they say they are seeing a rise in DUIs around the region.

According to state police, they interacted with more than 350 drivers. In all there were 54 DUIs.

"The numbers are on the rise, it seems like here in North Strabane Township, mostly from illegal drug activity," Lt. Michael Miller with North Strabane police said.

The stats go on to say there were 35 drug arrests.

"It's dangerous. There's a lot of accidents involving alcohol and illegal drugs," Lt. Miller said.

There are several options to get home in a safe manner if you have anything in your system. Many are simple apps like Uber or Lyft.

"It's confusing because with the number of Ubers and other means to get safe modes of transportation away from the from the bars, I can't understand it," Lt. Miller said.

For people that try to dodge checkpoints, Lt. Miller wouldn't give out specifics, but there are situations where police can handle that to hold drivers accountable. 

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 37 people are killed in drunk driving crashes every day in the U.S. That's one person every 39 minutes. Those sobering statistics are why police are conducting these checkpoints. 

If you've never driven to one, here is what you can expect: "It's going to look like a landing strip. You're going to see a lot of lights, a lot of cones. There's a lot of police officers. Just be calm. Just follow the officer's instructions," Lt. Miller said.

With the Fourth of July holiday just around the corner, you can expect to see more DUI checkpoints around the region.