What are your thoughts on DUI check point

Well I can guarantee that there are terrorists amongst the 300 million Americans. Does that make it justified to tap all Americans phones because there are some terrorists? Not hardly..

A three-year study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shows that DUI roadblocks — and corresponding publicity — help reduce the incidence of DUI around the times they are set up. But the effect is often limited. A much more useful method involves "conducting more frequent waves of enforcement," the report states.

Pensacola News Journal

COLUMBUS, OH (2007-11-19) Ohio is one of 40 states that use sobriety checkpoints to screen for drunk drivers. But a group representing the restaurant industry says Ohio's sobriety checkpoints are ineffective. The American Beverage Institute says checkpoints caught fewer than one percent of people driving under the influence. They say saturation or roving police patrols are far more efficient. The American Beverage Institute analyzed statistics gathered by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Sarah Longwell is the beverage institute's managing director. "Only one-third of one percent of drivers stopped at sobriety checkpoints were actually charged with DUIs," Longwell says. "It hardly justifies the tax dollars spent on them every year."

Hrm...
Looks like that's why Carl didn't want to hook it up with some statistics...

Ah, Democracy.

It's give and take-safety and freedom. All of these threads, be it gun crime, drugs, auto accidents, privacy, it all comes down to swapping freedom and safety.

The thing is, there's nothing wrong with sacrificing a little freedom for a little security. There are just too many drunk drivers out there to rely on one or two police officers, and ANY lives lost to a drunk driver is a complete waste of human life. Drinking is the choice of the person doing it, the law is clear and simple for me.  If a checkpoint saves some innocent child from being hit by a drunk driver, I'll give up a few minutes of my day.

Blue lights flashing, they had traffic stopped 
And Highway 11's done turned into a permanent road block 
I wasn't driving, my wife was my D.D. 
And she hadn't drank a drop, still got hassled by the J.P.D. 
And I said hey dude can't you just leave her alone 
She ain't done nothin' wrong man and we just want to go home 
Woah-woah 

And I was mad as hell, thinking <screw> the po-po 
and they wonder why folks don't trust 'em no more 
Woah-hoah 
And I'm not gonna let this go, so I'm singing <screw> the po-po 

I didn't say they all were.
Just enough to make me want to talk to them as little as possible.
The limited contact I've had with them (only been pulled over once) has shown me that even the ones who are straight are major assholes on a powertrip.
The only time I've had a cop be civil (not nice, civil) was when he rear-ended me in his cruiser when I made a completely legal left turn with my blinker on. Even then, he tried to tell me it was my fault ("What'd you stop so fast for?"). I stuck up for myself because I knew I did nothing wrong, and he cut me a check for the damages plus some for me to not file a report. Sounds pretty straight, eh?

gardy90 wrote: if you havent done anything wrong then dont worry about it. would you rather have a mild delay or be dead...

Honestly, what makes you think you'd be any more dead than if there were no checkpoints? You're more likely to be involved in a car crash not on the highway, but on surface roads. I've never seen a checkpoint on a sidestreet.

I really think it's funny that every time someone gets killed by a drunk driver, it's automatically the drunk person's fault. Shouldn't whoever pulled out in front of the drunk guy and got t-boned have been paying attention to other traffic on the road?
I'm not justifying drunk driving or anything, but people really just need to pay more attention while driving. When you stop at a light, look both ways. I don't care if the light turn green, that doesn't mean some jackass isn't flying down the road with his lights off, running red lights.

The "If you're doing nothing wrong, then don't worry about it," is BS.
I make sure I obey all traffic laws specifically so I don't have to talk to the police. Why? Because I don't trust them not to come up with some BS charge and throw it at me. Even if it is just an inconvenience and you're on your way... Why? I shouldn't be inconvenienced by those who are put there to protect me.

If you see some guy driving drunk, pull him over. Don't stop hundreds of people in hopes of catching 1-2 people (who most likely wouldn't have crashed into anyone anyways).

if you havent done anything wrong then dont worry about it. would you rather have a mild delay or be dead...

Mephistopheles wrote: People eating and driving are a cause of accidents and deaths. Thus food should be banned in America. We need checkpoints to assure that there is no food in their system. Fascism is acceptable so long as it's hidden behind the guise of protecting us from us, and safety for our children. There's a reason why all of our rights are eroding faster than Niagara Falls. Idiotic people saying "Well if you aren't doing anything illegal you have nothing to hide" and just bend over willingly. The ignorant masses are so eager to hand over their rights for the illusion of safety that simply isn't there. This is just another example of showing how you have no rights. You are only allowed to be "free" until they want to **** with you, then you have to take it.

Brilliant. Food doesn't affect your ability to drive, alcohol does. Eating WHILE driving, then you might have a case, but that paragraph of ramble was absolutely idiotic.

Mephistopheles wrote: People eating and driving are a cause of accidents and deaths. Thus food should be banned in America. We need checkpoints to assure that there is no food in their system. Fascism is acceptable so long as it's hidden behind the guise of protecting us from us, and safety for our children. There's a reason why all of our rights are eroding faster than Niagara Falls. Idiotic people saying "Well if you aren't doing anything illegal you have nothing to hide" and just bend over willingly. The ignorant masses are so eager to hand over their rights for the illusion of safety that simply isn't there. This is just another example of showing how you have no rights. You are only allowed to be "free" until they want to **** with you, then you have to take it.

HAHHAHAHA, wow....

So if you were driving along, and a drunk driver hit you. Regardless of how much damage he does, you wouldn't be the slight bit pissed if he could have been stopped by a checkpoint, but they didnt have any?

Seriously, your argument is so daft it's unbelievable.   

I'm absolutely fine with them. Drunk driving is so dumb, I'm in favour of check stops. Even if it makes me late for something, I'm ok with it, and it's a decent excuse.