Sobriety Checkpoints
The increasing menace of drunken driving is crippling the road traffic system in every part of the world. As a result authorities have started scouring the roads for erring drivers with a high content of alcohol. Of late, police are using repeated road blocks or checkpoints to check the drivers for alcohol. Also called sobriety checkpoints, these measures really work wonders for police personnel. More commonly, law enforcement personnel set up check points to check the safety of the vehicles and to inspect driving records. If the driver is found to have a slurred speech or if he/she is emanating a breath full of alcohol, then he/she is made to get out of the car and forced to take a sobriety test.
With the Supreme Court's express judgment of 1990, the constitutional validity of DUI roadblocks and checkpoint was upheld, though with some restrictive clauses. All officers in question are asked to conduct such checkpoints without intruding in the privacy of the drivers. However, if the driver is found to be inundated with alcohol, then the officer has all the liberty to conduct an alcohol test.
To enforce the good intentions of the DUI checkpoints, a ''Sobriety Checkpoint Advisory Committee'' was appointed to establish guidelines and regulations; this committee consisted of representatives of the state police, local police, prosecutors, and the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute. However, there is still much confusion in seeking answers for the suggested guidelines. There are still no defined answers as to what constitutes "guidelines". However this kind of checkpoint has enabled enforcement authorities to bring a semblance of correctness into the society. But, this kind of intrusive checks has its own flaws and disadvantages like breach of privacy, unintentional arrests and unfavorable advantage to the enforcement authority.
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