SOBRIETY CHECK COMES UP DRY SOME IMPOUNDS, CITATIONS OCCUR.

Byline: JIM SKEEN Staff Writer

LANCASTER -- A sobriety and driver's license check Thursday in Lancaster resulted in 43 citations and 32 vehicles being impounded, but no arrests for drunken driving, deputies said Friday.

The checkpoint, held at Avenue I and Third Street East, screened 533 vehicles between 6 and 11 Thursday night. Of the citations issued, 31 were for drivers who either had no license at all or had licenses that had been suspended or revoked, deputies said.

A dozen citations were issued for miscellaneous traffic violations in and around the checkpoint, deputies said.

The checkpoint staff was financed by a $19,000 grant the city of Lancaster received from the California Office of Traffic Safety. The goal is to reduce the number of victims killed and injured in alcohol-related crashes.

``The purpose of this program is not to get people in trouble,'' Lancaster Mayor Henry Hearns said. ``It's to keep people out of trouble. By making drivers aware of the dangers involved in drunk driving, and of the penalty that a DUI (driving under the influence) carries, we're keeping streets safer for everyone.''

Lancaster experienced a 20 percent increase in total collisions from 2001 to 2003, including an 81 percent increase in DUI-related crashes, according to the California Office of Traffic Safety.

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