Police conducting DUI checkpoint tonight

Costa Mesa police will mount a DUI checkpoint from 6 p.m. to midnight tonight.

The checkpoint will be on northbound Santa Ana Avenue at 18th Street.

The stop is meant to raise awareness of the dangers of drinking and driving, police said.

It’s Costa Mesa’s second checkpoint associated with a statewide initiative to crack down on drunk driving over the holiday season.

Money for the checkpoint came from the California Office of Traffic Safety.

In 2008, more than 11,700 people died in highway crashes involving someone with a blood alcohol concentration at or higher than the legal limit of .08.

In California alone, more than 1,000 people were killed when driving with a blood alcohol content of .08 or more, police said.

— Joseph Serna