New Mexico State Police plans to conduct sobriety checks points and saturation patrols, as well as registration, insurance and driver’s license checks during January throughout the state.

The State Police reported a total of 68 DWI arrests and 12 alcohol-related crashes in 2020 in San Juan County.

“We are bringing awareness to these events in an effort to reduce alcohol-related fatalities,” New Mexico State Police spokesman Lt. Mark Soriano in a news release. “These checkpoints are helping to change society’s attitude about drinking and driving.”

Soriano also said in the release that if every driver made the decision to not drink and drive, hundreds of lives could be saved each year.

Sobriety checkpoints will be set up in all counties in New Mexico throughout the month of January.

mmitchell@durangoherald.com