Sobriety checkpoints reduce drunk driving and alcohol-involved crashes. We study how to maximize public health benefits and reduce their social and operational costs.

Sobriety checkpoints involve police officers setting up a temporary roadside station to conduct tests among drivers who pass by. Research over multiple decades demonstrates that the approach is a highly effective way to reduce drunk driving. But sobriety checkpoints are not used very commonly in the US, in part because they are very resource intensive for municipal police departments. Our research investigates how to conduct sobriety checkpoints in ways that maximize the public health benefits while minimizing costs to police departments and stress for local communities. In studies conducted in the US and Australia, we have found that smaller checkpoints staffed by a few officers are similarly effective compared to larger checkpoints. Our implementation research, conducted in partnership with law enforcement agencies, demonstrates that it is feasible to optimize checkpoints to the benefit of public health while conserving scarce policing resources and maintaining positive police-community relations.