LAS VEGAS (KSNV MyNews3) – Law enforcement agencies in the valley plan DUI checkpoints for the Labor Day Weekend.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department’s checkpoints are planned from 7 p.m. Friday to 3 a.m. Saturday in the southwest parts of the valley.
The Henderson Police Department’s Traffic Unit will be joined by other area law enforcement agencies operating the checkpoint from about 8 p.m. Friday until about 2 a.m. Saturday on St. Rose Parkway west of Eastern Avenue.
There were 390 deaths in traffic accidents nationwide in 2010 over the Labor Day holiday (three-day weekend), second only to Thanksgiving (four-day period) with 417 traffic-related deaths. New Year’s Day (three-day period) had 286 traffic-related deaths nationwide in 2010.
In Clark County, there was one fatal accident during the Labor Day weekend in 2011 and a total of six accident-related deaths statewide over the holiday weekend last year.
In 2011, 246 people were killed in motor vehicle crashes on Nevada roadways. Alcohol was a contributing factor in 74 of those deaths, according to the Nevada Department of Public Safety – Office of Traffic Safety. So far this year, 167 people have died on the state’s roadways with alcohol being a factor in 25 of those deaths.
Henderson Police will be assisted by officers from Las Vegas Metropolitan Police, Boulder City Police, Mesquite Police, Nye County Sheriff’s Office and Nevada Highway Patrol.
It is a requirement of Nevada law that the location of a DUI checkpoint be released before the date of the event, according to a release from the Henderson Police Department.
