A multi-agency traffic safety checkpoint on Highway 98 over the Labor Day weekend led to one DUI arrest, 16 traffic citations and four other arrests, the Fort Walton Beach Police Department said.
- Officers conducted the checkpoint on the night of Saturday, Sept. 5, on Highway 98 at St. Mary’s Avenue SW, in front of City Hall. The operation targeted impaired driving over the holiday weekend.
Officers arrested one driver who was operating a vehicle at more than three times the legal blood-alcohol limit.
In all, officers checked 215 vehicles and issued 16 uniform traffic citations and three criminal citations, according to the department. The checkpoint resulted in one DUI arrest and four other arrests. Approximately 805 vehicles traveled westbound on Highway 98 during the checkpoint.
Police Chief Robert Bage said the enforcement numbers were not the main objective.
“The arrests and citations are the visible result, but they are not the primary goal,” Bage said. “A traffic safety checkpoint works through general deterrence. We selected a highly visible location on a main corridor for that reason. When drivers know that checkpoints happen here, and that they are publicized, people decide not to drive impaired in the first place. Those are the crashes that never happen and the arrests we never make. That is the outcome we are after.”
Bage said impaired driving remains a persistent share of traffic deaths even as overall fatalities decline.
“Traffic fatalities have fallen nationally for four consecutive years, and that progress is real, safer vehicles, safer roads, faster post-crash care,” Bage said. “But impaired driving has held steady at roughly 30 percent of all traffic deaths for a decade. Engineering improvements don’t reach the decision a driver makes before the key turns. Enforcement and education are what reach that decision.”
The Fort Walton Beach Police Department was joined by four partner agencies: the Niceville Police Department, the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, the Florida Highway Patrol and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Because Highway 98 is a state roadway, logistical support from the Florida Department of Transportation was integral to the operation. Mothers Against Drunk Driving also provided support.
