SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – The South Dakota Department of Public Safety has announced 17 sobriety checkpoints in 15 counties across the state in May. 

Checkpoints are scheduled for May 2023 in the following counties: Brookings, Meade, Walworth, Beadle, Yankton, Charles Mix, Pennington, Minnehaha, Jones, Lawrence, Codington, Stanley, Brown, Fall River and Day.

DPS officials say the checkpoints are designed to encourage sober driving. 

Officials say 38% of deaths from fatal crashes were alcohol-related. In 2021, 56 people were killed and 690 were hurt in alcohol-involved crashes in South Dakota, authorities said. A Forbes Advisor analysis ranks South Dakota as the fifth worst state for DUIs. 

People who drink alcohol are urged to designate a sober driver or take an alternate form of commercial or public transportation.