Sheriff Craig Webre announced the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office will conduct two seat belt checkpoints and a DWI checkpoint this week in Lafourche Parish. These checkpoints are designed to help raise awareness for these types of violations and make the highways of the parish safer for all motorists.

The first seat belt checkpoint will be conducted during the evening hours of Wednesday, December 28, and the second will be conducted during the daytime hours of Thursday, December 29. During these checkpoints, deputies will focus on checking motorists for seat belt and safety seat violations, as well as for proper inspection tags and insurance.

The DWI checkpoint will begin during the evening hours of Friday, December 30, and will continue into the early morning hours of the following day. During the DWI checkpoint, deputies will be looking for drivers who are possibly impaired while checking for other traffic safety issues. This checkpoint is part of the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission’s “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign, as well as Louisiana State Police Troop C’s “Zero for December” campaign which calls for zero fatalities caused by impaired driving during the month of December.

Sheriff Webre reminds citizens to designate a driver if you are going to drink. Motorists suspected of DWI who refuse to submit to a breathalyzer test will lose their driver’s license for one year (first offense). For a second offense, the penalty increases to two years. Anyone convicted of a DWI offense while their driver’s license is suspended because of another DWI offense will face automatic prison time. Lafourche Parish is also a “No Refusal” parish, meaning if a suspected drunk driver refuses a breathalyzer test, deputies will seek a search warrant to have that person’s blood tested.