Virginia DUI checkpoint kicks off deadly holiday weekend
LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va. - Only FOX 5 cameras rolled as Virginia State Police troopers conducted a DUI checkpoint in Loudon County, Friday night.
The checkpoint, on Route 50 west of Route 15, kicked off a weekend that typically sees a spike in drunk driving arrests.
According to the most recent data from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, drunk driving deaths shot up 14% between 2020 and 2021.
And one example of how bad the problem has gotten? In Fairfax County, police tell Fox 5 this year they’ve arrested 1900 people suspected of driving drunk, compared to 1600 in 2022. That is a 19% increase.
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At Friday night’s checkpoint, troopers stopped driver after driver, looking for obvious signs of impairment, and if needed, making arrests.
"I think it’s important because it deters people from driving under the influence," Trooper Collin Kashmere told FOX 5.
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"You can smell it. If it’s alcohol usually, your eyes don’t lie. You get bloodshot eyes, watery eyes, glossy eyes," he said.
In addition, Montgomery County Police told FOX 5 their special Holiday Alcohol Task Force has been responsible for the arrest of 108 people in that one county alone since Nov. 8.