Kansas City DUI checkpoints to honor victims killed by drunk drivers

• KCPD
• This sign will greet drivers at Kansas City DUI checkpoints.

Police departments statewide are ramping up DUI enforcement between this weekend and Labor Day (September 3) as part of a campaign called “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over.” Additionally, KCPD announced Thursday that it will be adding an emotional charge to its checkpoints. The department is partnering with Mothers Against Drunk Driving and MoDOT to include two signs at each checkpoint featuring the name and photo of somebody killed by a drunk driver. A sign at the entry to the checkpoint will show a picture of the victim; another sign at the end will state the date that he or she was killed.

“It’s a way to really drive home the toll drunk driving takes on human life,” Major Rich Lockhart, commander of KCPD’s Special Operations Division, said in a press release announcing the program. “Many people ask, ‘Why do you do checkpoints?’ The person on that sign is why.”

When the checkpoints conclude, the victims’ families will receive the signs. The first victims to be featured on the checkpoint signs will be Diane Bronson and her 11-year-old daughter, Anna, who were killed by a drunk driver going the wrong way on Interstate 435 on the Fourth of July in 2011.