Evaluation of the "Checkpoint Strikeforce" Program

The "Checkpoint Strikeforce" program is a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) regionwide Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) enforcement program implemented in NHTSA’s Mid-Atlantic Region (Region 3) comprised of Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. The program emphasizes frequent, well publicized checkpoints implemented on a sustained basis throughout the July–to-December period of each calendar year. The program was initiated in 2002 and continues. This report presents the evaluation results for the first three years of the program from 2002 to 2004. Results indicate that it is feasible to implement such a DWI enforcement and public information program on a regionwide and continuing basis. Each jurisdiction was able to meet and generally dramatically exceed the goal of conducting at least one checkpoint per week throughout the program period. This included even the smaller jurisdictions in Delaware. Public awareness measures indicated some modest shifts in the desired direction in terms of awareness of the checkpoint program and self-reported behavior. Roadside breath test surveys of the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of nighttime drivers in two of three jurisdictions revealed reductions in the proportion of drivers with BACs of .05 grams per deciliter or greater. Analysis of fatal crash data indicated a reduction in alcohol-involved drivers in fatal crashes on the order of 7% when compared to the rest of the United States. This reduction approached, but did not reach, statistical significance.