Originally from California, Department of Economics doctoral student Kyutaro Matsuzawa is familiar with DUI checkpoints. He, his family and his peers, have experienced the roadblocks where law enforcement officials randomly select drivers and test for possible impairment.

But he found these checkpoints weren’t happening in Oregon.

“Upon relocating to Oregon, I noticed a stark difference,” Matsuzawa said. “I never encountered such checkpoints and learned that the use of DUI checkpoints is illegal here.”

Matsuzawa decided to examine the effect of DUI checkpoints on drunk driving behavior. His paper on the subject — “The Deterrent Effect of Targeted and Salient Police Enforcement: Evidence from DUI Checkpoint Bans — earned him the 2023 Best Field Paper award from the Department of Economics.

“I find that these enforcements can create a general deterrence effect, meaning that people are less likely to engage in drunk driving due to the fear of being caught,” Matsuzawa said. “Moreover, I emphasize that they are important tools in reducing drunk driving incidents.”

According to Matsuzawa’s analysis, US states that banned DUI checkpoints experienced a 12.5% increase in deaths in car crashes involving at least one drunk driver, or about 250 additional fatalities.

Although the US Supreme Court has that DUI checkpoints are legal, the Oregon courts have found the practice to violate constitutional rights, as law enforcement officers do not have probable cause. Oregon is one of 12 states to ban the tactic.   

Matsuzawa’s paper is under review in the Journal of Law and Economics.