
                         THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
                 Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, June 30, 1994                    TAG: 9406300576 
SECTION: LOCAL                     PAGE: B6    EDITION: FINAL  
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 
DATELINE: 940630                                 LENGTH: HOPEWELL

POLICE CARRY NEW DUI LAWS INTO HOLIDAY

{LEAD} As Virginians prepare to celebrate the July 4th weekend, police are emphasizing new drunken-driving laws as part of the annual campaign promoting safe highways.

``Drinking and driving often produce deadly results, and drivers also should be aware that some of the DUI laws will change as of July 1,'' said Col. M. Wayne Huggins, state police superintendent.

{REST} As of Friday, the blood alcohol content at which a driver is considered legally drunk will be lowered from .10 percent to .08 percent.

Also going into effect is a ``zero tolerance'' law for drivers under 21. The young drivers may not have a blood alcohol content of .02 percent or higher since it is illegal for anyone under 21 to purchase or possess alcoholic beverages in Virginia.

There also are new penalties for repeat DUI offenders and for anyone who loans his car to a drunken driver whose license has been suspended.

In central Virginia, a coalition of public safety officials met Tuesday to start Sobriety Checkpoint Week. Police and sheriff's departments from 16 localities and state agencies will conduct the regional effort to reduce alcohol- and drug-related traffic wrecks and deaths through July 4.

The Virginia Alcohol Safety Action Program and Mothers Against Drunk Driving are sponsoring the Sobriety Checkpoint Week.

Capt. Thomas W. Shook of the traffic division of the Richmond Police Department said rank-and-file officers organized the effort to ``blanket central Virginia with sobriety checkpoints.''

At least one sobriety checkpoint each will be in the counties of Amelia, Chesterfield, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, New Kent, Powhatan, Prince George, Surry and Sussex; the cities of Colonial Heights, Hopewell, Petersburg and Richmond; the town of Ashland; and at Fort Lee in Petersburg.

The state police also will put more troopers on the state's well-traveled highways from Friday through July 4 as part of its Operation Combined Accident Reduction Effort.

{KEYWORDS} VIRGINIA STATE POLICE DRUNKEN DRIVING LAW by CNB