According to Meade County Sheriff Phillip Wimpee, on Saturday, April 20, Deputies with the Meade County Sheriff's Office along with Officers from Brandenburg Police Department conducted a traffic safety checkpoint on U.S. 60 just east of Highway 313. This checkpoint was in response to an increased number of collisions on U.S. 60, several of which involved intoxicated drivers. During these collisions, it was determined that drivers were operating vehicles without proof of insurance and with expired registration.
The goal of the checkpoint was to increase operator awareness on maintaining the appropriate documents in your vehicle. During this checkpoint, contact was made with 751 vehicles. There were three arrests during the checkpoint — two involved drugs, and one was related to an outstanding warrant. There were twenty-two citations issued for charges ranging from failure to maintain insurance to expired or no registration plates. The checkpoint was successful in that the overall checkpoint mission was to raise driver awareness. Thirty minutes prior to the checkpoint, a short distance from the designated location, an injury collision occurred on Joe Prather Highway at Big Springs Rd.
At a traffic safety checkpoint, law enforcement officers also evaluate drivers for signs of alcohol or drug impairment at a specified point along the roadway, often depending upon the support of local property owners for the use of appropriate land. Checkpoint sites are selected based upon analysis of available crash and impaired driving arrest data and a consideration of officer safety.
According to the KOHS, in 2022 in Kentucky, there were 4,127 total crashes involving an impaired driver, resulting in 1,990 injuries and 189 deaths. During the 2022 Labor Day holiday weekend, there were 76 crashes involving an impaired driver, resulting in 44 injuries and one death. Of the 1,575 total motorcycle crashes last year in Kentucky, 749 involved only motorcyclists (single-vehicle crash). Of those single-vehicle crashes, 44 involved alcohol, resulting in 32 injuries and 11 deaths. According to NHTSA, on average, one person is killed every 50 minutes in a drunken-driving crash in the United States.
If you have questions or concerns about traffic safety checkpoints in Meade County, contact Lieutenant J.R. Raleigh with the Meade County Sheriff’s Office at 270-422-4937 or jrraleigh@meadeky.gov. We appreciate the patience of drivers encountering our checkpoints and hope our community continues to drive safely.