"No refusal" DUI checkpoints could be coming to Tampa

[JamSession]

It's so easy to just see the sign "DUI checkpoint ahead" and just make a u turn and go an alternate route if someone wants to avoid it.

The cops know that too and often sit on the alternate routes watching for such maneuvers. I think the sign is just for safety so you don't continue to haul ass and go all old-man-into-a-farmers-market on their setup.

So is one obligated to go through these Gestapo like check points? If you legally make a u-turn or take a side street before the checkpoint what reason would they have to stop you? When I lived in VA one was not obligated to go through a checkpoint if you could legally make a u-turn or take some other route. These tactics really should be outlawed everywhere, but it doesn't surprise me that the sheeple in this country tolerate them.

[Sandman76]

Although I do agree with people being sheeple and all, the Nazi Police state crap etc etc, DUI I have zero tollerance for. Plain and simple you're endangering EVERYONE out there by being impared while driving and if you want to play Russian Roulette, play with willing players, not innocent people who don't have the choice to play or not! Some of you may think the punishment is too harsh for 1st time offence for DUI, I say it's not hard enough! You take one of my kids' lives because of DUI, hope and prey the cops show up before I do because their punishment will be easy on you. Put another way, you wouldn't want the pilot of the 747 you're on to be pissed up while piloting the plane.

[JamSession]

Although I do agree with people being sheeple and all, the Nazi Police state crap etc etc, DUI I have zero tollerance for. Plain and simple you're endangering EVERYONE out there by being impared while driving and if you want to play Russian Roulette, play with willing players, not innocent people who don't have the choice to play or not! Some of you may think the punishment is too harsh for 1st time offence for DUI, I say it's not hard enough! You take one of my kids' lives because of DUI, hope and prey the cops show up before I do because their punishment will be easy on you. Put another way, you wouldn't want the pilot of the 747 you're on to be pissed up while piloting the plane.

I appreciate what you're saying, but I don't drink and drive, never have. These checkpoints do little to take drunk drivers off the road. The vast majority of DUI deaths are caused by habitual drunk drivers, those with multiple convictions. Checkpoints/roadblocks are not very efficient at catching these people. The cops need to be patrolling the roads specifically looking for DUI's, not ensnaring everyone, the majority who are not DUI, in these useless checkpoints. And no, I am not willing to be inconvenienced even if it takes a drunk off the road. Where does it end? How about checkpoints exiting all neighborhoods, popular restaurants, sporting events, etc. I don't want to live in a police state like that. I know that many in this country are perfectly fine with it and that's their right.

[MOPARado]

This is no longer the America i grew up in.

The phrase 'Land of the Free' is pounded into our heads by main stream media ad nauseum. Yet our freedoms are being eroded at an ever increasing pace and most Americans don't know it, don't care or cheer it on.

WWII Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels:
"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it,
people will eventually come to believe it."

Famous last words of the 'police state' enablers: "I've got nothing to hide", "It'll save lives", "Its for the children"
The way things are going sooner or later 'they' WILL find something the enablers are hiding.

[JamSession]

This is no longer the America i grew up in.

The phrase 'Land of the Free' is pounded into our heads by main stream media ad nauseum. Yet our freedoms are being eroded at an ever increasing pace and most Americans don't know it, don't care or cheer it on.

WWII Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels:
"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it,
people will eventually come to believe it."

Famous last words of the 'police state' enablers: "I've got nothing to hide", "It'll save lives", "Its for the children"
The way things are going sooner or later 'they' WILL find something the enablers are hiding.

I could not agree more with what you said! If I hear another "if it saves one life, it's worth it" excuse for trampling on my Constitutional rights I'm gonna vomit. I don't give a crap if it saves one life, saves a child's life, etc. The do-gooder, nanny state, "it's for your own good" crowd have been saying this for decades as they trample on another one of my rights as an American.

[krypton2]

There's regulations over what must be done prior to performing a DUI checkpoint. The location and date of the checkpoint is often published in a local newspaper, on the evening TV news, on news websites, and other ways that gets the word out there. This isn't always done, but most of the time it is.

On the approach of a DUI checkpoint you have to have signs indicating that you are approaching it...the number of signs required varies. You have to give a driver the opportunity to turn off and avoid the checkpoint if s/he desires. Do officers sit at those intersections watching for people turning away from the checkpoint? Yes...but you're not going to be stopped solely for turning away though. If you turn away and in the process go the wrong way down a one-way road, make an illegal u-turn, start swerving or fail to use your turn signal, etc. then you could be stopped just like if you committed those violations at any other time.

That's actually why roving checkpoints are more efficient than stationary checkpoints in my opinion...as long as you have enough police cars, you can have officers driving through your major roadways where the most DUI accidents occur and you can see a lot more about a person's driving behavior when you're following them as opposed to when they are just sitting at a checkpoint. If all of the officers at a stationary checkpoint were in their own cars and driving around looking for drunk drivers, you might be able to get more people off the road and find other major offenses, too, in the process...plus, you don't have to worry about publishing it to the public, getting signs and traffic cones, finding a good location, etc. But a lot of times checkpoints are grant funded so you don't have that option.

[category4]

I actually like checkpoints, it gives me a chance to screw with the LEO's.

They always have some stupid question for you like, "You have any knives, guns, dead bodies,hand grenades or atomic bombs in there".

Love the look on their face when the simple reply is "yes"!!!! Priceless when you see their hand move towards their gun, wondering what to say next!!

[MOPARado]

..... If all of the officers at a stationary checkpoint were in their own cars and driving around looking for drunk drivers, you might be able to get more people off the road and find other major offenses, too, in the process...

Thats the way it used to be...good old fashioned Constitutionally correct probable cause.

The way i see it, picture a balance scale with 'Freedom' on one end and 'Tyranny' at the other end.
The rampant politically correct, dumbing down of America, emotional knee-jerking, anti-Constitution, safety at all cost crowd is tipping the scale... with the main stream media not only leading the band wagon but keeping it going.

[category4]

The problem is also that these officers stationed to see you turn away from the checkpoint, just flat out lie about probable cause. Who can argue with he failed to use a signal. There is absolutely no way the majority of people could prove they did.

The officer says I saw him change sanes without signaling, initiated a stop and smelled alcohol. Game over and you did nothing wrong.

Hope he tries that on me, I would love to see his face in court when the HUD cam shows the turn signal on!!! But I'm one of the few hundred in America that could probably provide video evidence!

[SteadySpeedin]

The problem is also that these officers stationed to see you turn away from the checkpoint, just flat out lie about probable cause. Who can argue with he failed to use a signal. There is absolutely no way the majority of people could prove they did.

The officer says I saw him change sanes without signaling, initiated a stop and smelled alcohol. Game over and you did nothing wrong.

Hope he tries that on me, I would love to see his face in court when the HUD cam shows the turn signal on!!! But I'm one of the few hundred in America that could probably provide video evidence!

The situation you just described is the reason why I am heistant to get a dash cam. The way my camera is mounted on my headrest now, allows for it to view my instrument cluster. Therefore, there will be no question as to whether or not I used my turn signal. I need to purchase a tiny camera that has a view of my instrument cluster, as well as a small view of the road. I also need to pick up 2 dash cams to go along with that, so I have Front/Rear cams + an instrument cluster cam. That's my plan for my future setup, but finding cams with all of the right features is tough.