Sobriety Checkpoint

[Mr Light]

On Friday night I was driving back home from my sister's house. She lives back in the woods a little bit and it's a long straight road with no lighting. All of sudden there's all these emergency markers announcing a Sobriety Checkpoint ahead! I don't get pulled over or anything but there's three cop cars and a dozen cops standing around.

I'd never heard of something like this before in my life! They just set up a roadblock in the middle of nowhere? But they don't check everyone? Just someone... what... speeding? swerving?

Has anyone else seen this where they live?

 

[Evil_Kirkneivel]

I'm not sure about Pennsylvania, but they do this all the time in Australia. They don't stop every car, just every third car approximately. Then you have to blow in a breathalizer, and if you're over the limit, you get fined or lose your license.

 

[RoJoHen]

I've seen these, but around here they actually check every car that drives by.

 

[Nerdius Maximus]

I think those are bullshit. You shouldn't be suspected of doing something wrong without any evidence. Cops shouldn't be able to waste your time without a valid reason for doing so.

 

[RoJoHen]

I think those are bullshit. You shouldn't be suspected of doing something wrong without any evidence. Cops shouldn't be able to waste your time without a valid reason for doing so.

The only one that I ever stopped me only checked to make sure I had a driver's license and proof of insurance. They didn't actually make me do anything to test my sobriety.

 

[Canadave]

We have RIDE checks here in Ontario. They usually just consist of the police stopping you, asking if you've been drinking, and then sending you on your way if they have no reason to suspect you're intoxicated. I have no problem with them, myself. Even if they only catch one drunk driver every night, that's still one less that's on the road, endangering innocent people.

 

[Mr. B]

To the best of my knowledge, there are an occasional occurrence here but I've never encountered one myself.

 

[Trekker4747]

I think those are bullshit. You shouldn't be suspected of doing something wrong without any evidence. Cops shouldn't be able to waste your time without a valid reason for doing so.

If it saves one person from being crashed into and be horribly mutilated in a car fire, or killed, then I'm all for it.

All they do is stop you, see if you're showing any signs of drukedness, if you are they the FST on you. If not you go on your way.

Driving is a privilege and not a right. So you can be inconvienced a little bit to prevent someone from abusing that privilege.

 

[pookha]

On Friday night I was driving back home from my sister's house. She lives back in the woods a little bit and it's a long straight road with no lighting. All of sudden there's all these emergency markers announcing a Sobriety Checkpoint ahead! I don't get pulled over or anything but there's three cop cars and a dozen cops standing around.

I'd never heard of something like this before in my life! They just set up a roadblock in the middle of nowhere? But they don't check everyone? Just someone... what... speeding? swerving?

Has anyone else seen this where they live?

something may have happened to cause them to put one in an out of way place.

they sometimes will set up in area where they have had crashes due to dui or
where a high percentage of dui's have been noticed in the past.

 

[SeerSGB]

On Friday night I was driving back home from my sister's house. She lives back in the woods a little bit and it's a long straight road with no lighting. All of sudden there's all these emergency markers announcing a Sobriety Checkpoint ahead! I don't get pulled over or anything but there's three cop cars and a dozen cops standing around.

I'd never heard of something like this before in my life! They just set up a roadblock in the middle of nowhere? But they don't check everyone? Just someone... what... speeding? swerving?

Has anyone else seen this where they live?

something may have happened to cause them to put one in an out of way place.

they sometimes will set up in area where they have had crashes due to dui or
where a high percentage of dui's have been noticed in the past.

Well I know in my neck of the woods-- from what folks I know that are county deputies-- they like to set up on backroads sometimes cause a lot of folks aren't expecting them to be there. They figure if they stay off the main roads they can get home before they get caught.

 

[TheLonelySquire]

On Friday night I was driving back home from my sister's house. She lives back in the woods a little bit and it's a long straight road with no lighting. All of sudden there's all these emergency markers announcing a Sobriety Checkpoint ahead! I don't get pulled over or anything but there's three cop cars and a dozen cops standing around.

I'd never heard of something like this before in my life! They just set up a roadblock in the middle of nowhere? But they don't check everyone? Just someone... what... speeding? swerving?

Has anyone else seen this where they live?

I got stopped at one of these a few months ago on the way to pick up a pizza. They asked if I had had anything to drink, looked in the car, etc. Told him I hadn't but was really looking forward to it once I got home! By law here they have to announce when and where these checkpoints will take place and offer a road to turn off of beforehand. At least that's what I've heard. Kinda defeats the purpose.

 

[RoJoHen]

The one time I got stopped was around 2am on a Friday night, and the cops were very suspicious of me because I told them I was going to the gym.

 

[Middle Earther]

We have them quite often here. It's really the only thing cops do around here...

 

[SeerSGB]

On Friday night I was driving back home from my sister's house. She lives back in the woods a little bit and it's a long straight road with no lighting. All of sudden there's all these emergency markers announcing a Sobriety Checkpoint ahead! I don't get pulled over or anything but there's three cop cars and a dozen cops standing around.

I'd never heard of something like this before in my life! They just set up a roadblock in the middle of nowhere? But they don't check everyone? Just someone... what... speeding? swerving?

Has anyone else seen this where they live?

I got stopped at one of these a few months ago on the way to pick up a pizza. They asked if I had had anything to drink, looked in the car, etc. Told him I hadn't but was really looking forward to it once I got home! By law here they have to announce when and where these checkpoints will take place and offer a road to turn off of beforehand. At least that's what I've heard. Kinda defeats the purpose.

My uncle told me that up in Crossville (TN) they did this: And even had signs on the road and a sign pointing out the road to detour on to. Yeah, they were sitting a little over a mile up the road from the turn and doing "seatbelt checks" there too

 

[Danoz]

They have them around here on New Years eve. I've been stopped once but it was really simple, I just opened my window, said hey to the police officer, and moved on.

 

[Mallory]

They're unconstitutional in my state, so I haven't ever run into one.

 

[Drogo]

We have them all of the time in this county. In fact, the dates, times and locations are even listed weekly in the news papers.

An morons still get caught. 'Cause only stupid criminals still drink and drive.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

On Friday night I was driving back home from my sister's house. She lives back in the woods a little bit and it's a long straight road with no lighting. All of sudden there's all these emergency markers announcing a Sobriety Checkpoint ahead! I don't get pulled over or anything but there's three cop cars and a dozen cops standing around.

I'd never heard of something like this before in my life! They just set up a roadblock in the middle of nowhere? But they don't check everyone? Just someone... what... speeding? swerving?

Has anyone else seen this where they live?

I got stopped at one of these a few months ago on the way to pick up a pizza. They asked if I had had anything to drink, looked in the car, etc. Told him I hadn't but was really looking forward to it once I got home! By law here they have to announce when and where these checkpoints will take place and offer a road to turn off of beforehand. At least that's what I've heard. Kinda defeats the purpose.

Yeah, it completely defeats the purpose. Here, they set them up without notice and, if they see you turn around without going through, it's probable cause to stop you. I don't think they can stop every car, though, it has to be a fixed number (like one out of three or something like that).

 

[trekkiedane]

Has anyone else seen this where they live?

We have plenty of those around here -especially during December when loads of drivers seem to loose the ability to drive safely due to drinking too many chrismas lunches...

 

[Timby]

These kinds of checkpoints (either sobriety or for license/registration -- Iowa does not have a compulsory insurance law) happen every three or four months here in Dubuque County, usually on a Friday or Saturday near the end of a month when the Sheriff's Department or the Police Department are facing a revenue shortfall. The sobriety checkpoints are rare, simply because we don't have any real back roads or side roads that draw more than two or three vehicles an hour at night, and because this city is largely composed of one-way streets, sobriety checks can do a pretty decent job of snarling traffic.

Even more frequent, though, than the sobriety and license checks, are the seatbelt stings. About every two months, a half-dozen squad cars will line up every two blocks along one one-way street, and another half-dozen along a parallel one-way street going the other way. The cars act as spotters for each other. I think the latest sting, in June, netted something like 127 seatbelt citations in an 8-hour period.