DUI checkpoint planned for tonight in Costa Mesa

Costa Mesa police will conduct a DUI checkpoint from 6 p.m. to midnight looking for people driving under the influence or driving without a valid driver’s license.

Tonight’s checkpoint will be on westbound Wilson Street just west of Pomona Avenue.

More than 500 drivers have been arrested for driving under the influence in Costa Mesa this year, police said, and DUI checkpoints serve as just another reminder that officers are out there enforcing the law.

DUI checkpoints traditionally don’t net many arrests, but act as reminders while saturation patrols, or increased police presence on the roads, bring in the arrests, police said.

Recent statistics from Mothers Against Drunk Driving show that someone is killed in a drunk-driving accident every 30 minutes, police said.

— Joseph Serna