Drivers who approach the lane should be prepared to present their driver’s license and proof of insurance. Any drivers who cannot produce these items, or who are suspected of driving under the influence, will be asked to pull over into another lane, according to Officer Virgil Miller, Wichita Police Department, Patrol South.

The Wichita Police Department will have a supervisor routinely monitoring the length of time it takes a motorist to proceed through the check lane when no violations have been detected. This process should take no more than five minutes.

If police suspect a person of DUI, and he/she refuses to submit to a sobriety test, he/she is subject to having their driver’s license suspended for a year. Fines for Driving Under the Influence are progressive for each subsequent conviction and can result in a felony crime and imprisonment. The legal limit in the State of Kansas for adults is .08% Blood Alcohol Content. Those drivers under 21 years of age cannot have a blood alcohol content of more than .02.

This DUI check lane is just one part of the Wichita Police Department’s Comprehensive Traffic Safety Enforcement Program. The Program takes a four-prong approach in addressing traffic safety in the city of Wichita: education, enforcement, environment and awareness.

During the first nine months of 2003, there have been 11 fatality crashes in Wichita, with six of those, or 55 percent, being alcohol or drug related. For the same time period in 2002, there were 31 fatalities, with 18, or 58 percent, being alcohol or drug related.

The Impaired Driving Deterrence Grant from the Kansas Department of Transportation is funding this DUI enforcement effort. The grant provides overtime reimbursement to the Department to conduct DUI check lanes and saturation patrols in locations that have been identified as having a high incidence of impaired drivers and alcohol related crashes.

For more information contact Officer Virgil Miller or Sgt. Jamal Shourbaji, Patrol South Bureau, at 337-9200.