NE Heights has its share of DWI checks

WHY THE DWI CHECKPOINTS GO WHERE THEY GO: Phil Casias asks why all the sobriety checkpoints seem to steer clear of the Northeast Heights.

He called to say it seems they “leave the money area alone” and focus on the North and South valleys, the Southeast Heights and the West Side instead of the bars on roads like Academy, Candelaria and Tramway.

Albuquerque Police Department public information officer Tasia Martinez says “we select our locations for checkpoints from the University of New Mexico division of government research. They list the intersections of highest number of alcohol-related accidents.”

As for never being set up in the Northeast Heights, Martinez supplies this list of the last eight months of checkpoints:

♦ July 5: Eubank/Camino Del Sol NE

♦ July 7: N.M. 528/Westside NW

♦ July 13: San Mateo/Candelaria NE

♦ July 28: Lomas/Broadway NE

♦ Aug. 3: Eubank/Constitution NE

♦ Aug. 25: Northbound Frontage/Mountain NE

♦ Sept. 1: Unser/Ladera NW

♦ Sept. 7: Central/Terrace SE

♦ Sept. 15: Louisiana/Constitution NE

♦ Oct. 26: Central/Broadway SE

♦ Nov. 11: Northbound Frontage/San Mateo NE

♦ Nov. 10: Central/Romero NW

♦ Nov. 24: Montgomery/Morningside NE

♦ Dec. 22: Coal/Broadway SE

♦ Dec. 31: San Mateo/Lincoln NE

♦ Jan. 26: Eubank/Constitution NE

♦ Feb. 1: Central/California NE

♦ Feb. 14: Eubank/Camino Del Sol NE

♦ Feb. 16: Rio Grande/Mountain NW

♦ Feb. 22: San Mateo/Candelaria NE

♦ March 2: Coors/Western Trail NW

ARE LICENSE PLATES OPTIONAL? Ruben Mirabal emails – tongue firmly in cheek, I hope – that “while driving the streets of Albuquerque and Rio Rancho, I am observing, with increasing regularity, motor vehicles without license plates. Has the Motor Vehicle Division declared a moratorium on the need to display a license plate or register your vehicle? During a one-week period, I counted eight cars without license plates, in addition to two cars with expired temporary dealer’s plates. What is the procedure to get a dispensation from having to display a license plate or register your vehicle?”

Of course there isn’t one – it’s called playing the odds and hoping you don’t get caught. According to MVD: “vehicles that must be registered in New Mexico generally include passenger vehicles, trucks, motorcycles, recreational vehicles, motor homes, buses, manufactured or mobile homes, trailers and off-highway vehicles, such as ATVs or snowmobiles.”

HOW ABOUT A NOISE CHECK? Alan R. and Mary Louise Miller email “in several columns you have discussed noisy motorcycles and the difficulty the police have in measuring the noise. But there are also many noisy automobiles in the city. Perhaps a solution can be found by including a noise check during the annual vehicle inspection. Couldn’t the smog stations have sound-measuring equipment so that vehicles that are louder than a certain level could not pass?”

AND A FOG-LIGHT ADJUSTMENT: Jeff emails that “as a sales representative traveling around the greater Metro area, I frequently encounter drivers at night driving with the fog lights on and not a bit of fog in the area. Please remind drivers that fog light(s) project a beam upward that can blind an oncoming driver.

“It seems to be more so of a problem in Placitas – my home – where the Subaru is the unofficial car of the village. When its not foggy, please turn of the fog lights. Thanks again and happy motoring.”

14 JANUARY TRAFFIC DEATHS: Six of the deaths in the first month of 2013 were in vehicles, seven were pedestrians, and one was on an all-terrain vehicle.

According to the University of New Mexico number crunchers, alcohol was a factor in seven of the deaths. None of the people who died in vehicles were buckled in. The ATV driver was not wearing a helmet.

Assistant editorial page editor D’Val Westphal tackles commuter issues for the Metro area on Mondays and West Siders and Rio Ranchoans on Thursdays. Reach her at 823-3858; road@abqjournal.com; P.O. Drawer J, Albuquerque, N.M. 87103; or go to ABQjournal.com/traffic to read previous columns and join in the conversation.
— This article appeared on page A6 of the Albuquerque Journal