If there is a holiday weekend, there is a good bet that there will be a DUI checkpoint set up at some point where law enforcement anticipates a good deal of drunk driving to be going on.
A DUI checkpoint is an unannounced roadblock set up and operated by the local law enforcement agencies and may be assisted by state law enforcement. The DUI checkpoint is designed to ensnare drivers who might be drunk driving. The checkpoint may involve random stops, or the officers may stop every person going through the checkpoint.
The DUI checkpoint may be on less traveled roads and late at night.
If you find yourself in a checkpoint, it is best to stay in line. If you turn around, you give the officers a reason to find out why you were reluctant to go through the checkpoint. If you are driving while drunk, it is possible to find yourself with a fleeing and alluding charge too. Either way, you are going to need a DUI lawyer to help you with the charges and to reduce the DUI penalties.
Once you are at the checkpoint, you will be asked for your license and registration, as well as your proof of insurance. These items are standard. The officer may shine his or her light into your vehicle, but may not have authority to search the vehicle unless you give it to them.
You may not need to take a field sobriety test; it depends on your state DUI laws. However, if you refuse a breathalyzer test, you may find yourself arrested and lose your driver’s license for refusal. If this happens, you need to contact a DUI lawyer who knows the DUI laws to help you with the DUI penalties of refusing to take the test.
You need to know what your rights are in your state.
According to the Governors Highway Safety Association, the District of Columbia, along with 38 states, administer DUI checkpoints at various times, and 12 states do not conduct DUI checkpoints at all.
Of the 12 states, five states prohibit them in their state laws, five states have found them to be unconstitutional according to their state constitution, Texas says the checkpoints are unconstitutional according to the Constitution and Alaska lacks the state authority to conduct a checkpoint.
DUI checkpoints are not conducted in these states: Wyoming, Washington, Idaho, Alaska, Texas, Michigan, , Rhode Island, Oregon, Montana, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Of the states that do set up DUI checkpoints, each state has a set amount of checkpoints done per year. If you are in Florida, you can expect them to show up at the rate of 15 to 20 per month, and California does over 2,500 DUI checkpoints annually.
