OUI detail last of summer-long effort

Photo: A.M. Sheehan

BUSY CHECKPOINT — Looking like a highway toll plaza on a busy night, the Norway-Paris Police OUI Checkpoint saw more than 300 cars and drivers Saturday night through the well orchestrated and smoothly run detail.

NORWAY — From 9 p.m. Saturday to 1 a.m. Sunday, drivers on Route 26 in Norway found themselves swept up in an OUI/Safety Checkpoint.

The Checkpoint was the final part of a summer-long effort between July 1 and September 1. Both departments received 2012 High Visibility Impaired Driving Enforcement Project grants from the Bureau of Highway Safety.

The four-hour detail was a joint effort of the Norway and Paris Police Departments and the final phase of both departments' grant projects.

Paris Chief David Verrier and Norway Chief Robert Federico worked side-by-side with their officers checking cars for safety hazards and drivers for signs of impairment.

No impaired drivers came through among the 334 cars stopped Saturday night, but police did make five arrests and gave out 70 warnings.

The roadblock was busy with folks getting out of work, out of the races and out of the movies.

With the exception of a few, drivers were cheerful and expressed their appreciation to law enforcement for setting up the detail.

One gentleman from Vermont said he wished there were more of these. "I am the victim of a drunk driver," he said, "and if there had been one of these it never would have happened."

A year ago, he said, he was hit head-on by a drunk driver and spent a month in the hospital with severe leg injuries.

The rest of the summer effort netted 185 cars stopped, 16 arrests – three for OUI, and 216 warnings given by Norway. Paris totals were not available by press time.