DOVER — Sobriety checkpoints are upcoming for the Labor Day weekend, the Delaware Office of Highway Safety has announced.

The checkpoints begin Friday at 10 p.m. and continue into Saturday at 2 a.m. Locations include U.S. 13 in Dover, Del. 1 in Rehoboth Beach and U.S. 40 in Newark.

The Labor Day DUI checkpoints will include more than 50 law enforcement officers from 13 local, county and municipal agencies, in addition to Delaware State Police. At least one drug recognition enforcement officer will be part of each site.

The locations are in targeted areas known to have a high number of DUI arrests and crashes, including injuries and fatalities.

OHS said Labor Day weekend is historically one of the deadliest times of the year on roads in Delaware and nationwide. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the weekend typically generates an increase in drunk-driving-related deaths.

In 2019, Delaware saw 22 impaired-driving crashes, resulting in 14 injuries, during Labor Day weekend, OHS reports. In 2020, those numbers fell to 13 impaired-driving crashes and five injuries.

“We want our community members to understand that it’s our first priority to keep people safe, so we’re asking everyone to plan ahead if they know they’ll be out drinking,” said Kimberly Chesser, OHS director.

“We need commitment from our community members that they’ll keep the streets free of impaired drivers, so that everyone can travel safely on Delaware roadways this holiday weekend. This is a campaign to get the message out that impaired driving is illegal and it takes lives. We can all play a part in eliminating this tragic and senseless behavior,” she said.

OHS’ new “When You Drink and Drive, You’re Not All There” blood alcohol content tool is available here. Use this tool — available in English and Spanish — to explore impairing effects on different parts of the body and learn how critical driving skills deteriorate when a person reaches varying levels of BAC.

Research finds that highly publicized and frequent sobriety checkpoints can lower deadly impaired-driving crashes by up to 24%, OHS said.