Drunken driving checkpoints will be set up throughout the state later this month, requiring all drivers to stop for brief interviews.

State officials are optimistic that the checkpoints will help reduce alcohol-related accidents.

"The hope is the presence of state police officers, and a perceived risk of getting caught, will be that the public will be deterred (from drinking and driving)," said Lou Rader, manager of the Pennsylvania Alcohol Highway Safety Program.

Legal questions have been raised about other state's drunken driving programs, Rader said. However, none are expected with Pennsylvania's program, he added.

The constitutionality of similar checkpoints in other states has been contested but the courts have approved them, although only within certain operational guidelines, Rader said.

Developed under a Selective Traffic Enforcement Against Drunk Driving program, the checkpoints are planned for about 100 locations, Rader said.

One checkpoint will be located on a section of Route 322 between Philipsburg and Port Matilda in Centre County, said Thomas Lyon, spokesman for the state police. The state Department of Transportation designated all of the locations as having high rates of drunken-driving accidents, he said.

The roadblocks will operate on random evenings and weekends until Sept. 30, Lyon said.

Every vehicle passing through the checkpoint will be momentarily stopped. If the driver exhibits any signs of intoxication -- such as slurring speech or smelling of alcohol -- a field sobriety test will be administered, Lyon said. If drivers pass the test, they will be free to go, but otherwise they will be escorted to the nearest station for further blood-alcohol tests, he added.

Rader said the checkpoints will not directly decrease the number of alcohol-related accidents but will act as a deterrent.

"We hope the driver will find alternate transportation like a taxi or bus," he said.

The number of drunken driving arrests in Centre County rose in 1988 after a three-year decrease, Rader said, referring to statistics compiled by PennDOT. In 1988, the most recent statistics available, 521 charges were filed for driving under the influence of alcohol, 42 more than in 1986, he said. During the past six years, 1886 tallied the county's fewest drunken driving arrests.

Statewide, about 36,000 DUI charges were filed in 1988, an increase of 5 percent over 1987.

But while state officials believe the checkpoints are an important move toward decreasing drunken driving, not all drivers support the program.

"I think it's just going to far . . . when the police can start stopping you for everything," said Cal Zimmerman of State College. "It's another inconvenience when there are so many to deal with already."

Pennsylvania's checkpoints will operate under strict state and U.S. Supreme Court guidelines. The STEAD-D program must do the following:

-- Publicly announce the location and time of the checkpoint in advance through local media sources.

-- Detain motorists for a minimal amount of time.

-- Stop every vehicle on a pre-determined interval.

-- Maintain the road block in a well-lit area on the road.

In 1988, 856 out of 1,932 auto-related fatalities were the result of drunken driving, Rader said.