Sobriety checkpoints scheduled for March

Today is the first day of March and the state Department of Public Safety has announced where it will be conducting its sobriety checkpoints this month.  Checkpoints will be held in eighteen South Dakota counties during the month of March.

The monthly checkpoints are designed to encourage people not to drink and drive. The checkpoints are funded by the South Dakota Office of Highway Safety and conducted by the South Dakota Highway Patrol with the help of local law enforcement.

Area counties where March checkpoints are scheduled include: Brookings, Minnehaha, Moody, and Beadle counties.  Other counties include Brown, Brule, Butte, Clay, Codington, Day, Hutchinson, Jackson, Lawrence, Lincoln, Pennington, Roberts, Spink and Walworth.

Officials remind drivers not to drink and drive regardless of whether there is a checkpoint planned in their county. People who have been drinking are urged to designate a sober driver or take an alternate form of commercial or public transportation.