DDOT joined the Metropolitan Police Department and police departments from Fairfax and Montgomery Counties to kick off Checkpoint Strikeforce, a regional six-month anti-drunk driving campaign.

The campaign was launched in the late afternoon on August 26 on Canal Road, just west of Georgetown's many bars and taverns, with a sobriety checkpoint to intercept and deter happy hour drunk driving. Officers administered field sobriety tests, a key part of drunk driving dissuasion. 

“Drinking and driving do not mix and this regional campaign, melding enhanced and targeted law enforcement with public education is the proven way to decrease alcohol-related traffic accidents and deaths,” said Dan Tangherlini, DDOT director. “We want people to enjoy our city’s nightlife but not drink and drive; we must reduce alcohol-related crashes in the District, Maryland and Virginia.”

The kickoff included Kurt Erickson, head of the Washington Regional Alcohol Program, Debbie Hardy, whose daughter was killed by a drunk driver, and Elizabeth Baker, regional administer of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which awarded a grant for Checkpoint Strikeforce.