According the the Santa Monica Mirror, the Santa Monica Police Department is going to be conducting a DUI checkpoint in the area of Michigan Avenue and Lincoln Boulevard of Friday evening, November 20, 2009.

Officers will check that drivers are sober and properly licensed.

DUI checkpoints  are legal in many states, including California. Typically there are more sobriety checkpoints during the holiday season when impaired driving is most prevalent.

These roadblocks serve as much as a public awareness campaign as an actual law enforcement mechanism. Most often, they net a lot more people without drivers licenses than people who get charged with DUI. Proponents of these events cite statistics of dropping fatalities.

The Santa Monica Police will be out, so the smart thing to do, as always, is to have a designated driver or call a taxi cab.