No sooner had Honolulu Police set up a noon sobriety checkpoint at Ala Moana Beach Park yesterday than a dozen officers began scribbling citations.

It started with a young and frustrated woman behind the wheel of a white, late-model Audi who got a ticket because she couldn't find her insurance card. What irked her even more was the scheduled court date fell on her birthday.

Then, a man in a maroon Chrysler PT Cruiser was cited for tooling in without a driver's license. After issuing a ticket, police allowed the man to leave, snugly belted in the passenger's seat, while his companion — who produced a valid license — was allowed to take over driving privileges.

But for every HPD ticket handed out, five Mothers Against Drunk Driving goodie bags were awarded to motorists who arrived buckled up, papers in order, with nothing stronger on their breath than a Jamba Juice smoothie — which law-abiding drivers were also given, courtesy of the two dozen MADD Hawai'i volunteers on duty.

Ken Chan and Lisa Tam were in and out of the checkpoint in under a minute with smoothies, magnets and key chains in hand.

"I wasn't ready for this at all," said Chan, who was nevertheless happy about his smoothie. "I wish I had a watermelon, though."

"It's way too early to be drinking," piped up Tam, who quickly added, "Some of us don't drink and drive, ever."

"Labor Day weekend is always dangerous," said Leah Marx, executive director of MADD Hawai'i, "because there's an extra day, and that means people are going to parties, barbecues, they're going to the beach, and a lot of times that involves alcohol."

Yesterday's daylight checkpoint was aimed less at snagging afternoon inebriates than alerting Labor Day weekend motorists to be careful, said police Sgt. Scott Vierra.

Labor Day is traditionally one of the deadliest three-day holidays of the year, he said. But thanks in part to a drunken-driving crackdown by law enforcement agencies nationwide, traffic deaths are coming down.

Police statistics show that the number of people killed on O'ahu's highways so far this year, 29, is down almost 33 percent from the 43 people killed during the same period last year. Still, too many of those deaths have involved alcohol and speeding, police said.

"Our intention is not always to enforce," Vierra said. "Sometimes we like to focus mostly on education. This is kind of like that. For the most part, we're setting this up in the middle of the day to let people know what we do and that we'll be out there over the weekend."

Vierra said similar checkpoints would be conducted at unannounced locations and times throughout the weekend and continuing through Wednesday. Those checkpoints will mainly occur after dark, when partying motorists are known to roam the roads.

Don't expect smoothies at these checkpoints, police say.

Among the volunteers who held "Don't Drive & Drink" signs and passed out Jamba Juice were members of MADD's Youth in Action program, as well as numerous yellow-shirted Navy senior petty officers.

One volunteer who was waving at passing vehicles was Traci Jacob, 43, of Chinatown. She was there to bear witness to the tragedy that can come from mixing motor vehicles and booze.

Jacob was a passenger in a drunken-driver automobile crash 24 years ago. The smash-up severed her right arm and left her permanently brain damaged. After years of depression and painful therapy, Jacob is once again glad to be alive.

Although she has difficulty speaking and uses a wheelchair, Jacob says she participates in MADD events because she believes in the cause.

"I was drunk, too," said Jacob, who considers herself a "guilty victim."

"I do this because I wouldn't wish what happened to me on my worst enemy."

The 3-hour checkpoint at Ala Moana netted more than 150 vehicles.

Police issued six citations for no driver's license, 13 for inadequate insurance documents, three for child-restraint violations, eight for miscellaneous infractions (outdated safety checks, etc.), and a single warning to a guy whose .072 alcohol level was barely under the legal limit of .08 (he parked his car and walked home).

Meanwhile, MADD issued more than 12 dozen smoothies.

"This is kind of an awareness checkpoint — just to remind people the holiday is here," Marx said. "Police departments on all Islands are going to be doing sobriety checkpoints at undisclosed locations. So, if you're going to drive, don't drink."