Well, it’s still going over here. Not well, but going. I haven’t been through one of them, but friends have and I read about them in the newspaper on a fairly regular basis.
Just Google for “DUI checkpoints” and you’ll see tons of recent examples from around the country.
I’m not an expert either, but police certainly don’t have the right to search your car without probable cause. I suppose a case could be made that a breathalyzer is a search, but I don’t know how well that would hold up.
I actually had an asshole cop bitch me out for politely answering “Yes, sir” and “No, sir” to his questions. Apparently, the correct answer is “No, Officer.”
“None of your Beez-ness, Biatch! Now git yo ass out of my face fo I bust a cap in yo bi-atch ass, Motha-Fucka! Don’t mess with my ass while I try to tap this fine ass ova here!”
The definitive road-side test is nystagmus - a very simple eye movement exercise/test has been standardized that requires no more sophisticated equipment than a ballpoint pen.
If you have been drinking and driving you deserve what you get as far as I’m concerned - but a road-side test is somewhat subjective and a DUI/OWI can result from these tests regardless of the actual BAC. So the best solution to avoid getting popped after “a couple beers” is to go ahead and take the Breathylyzer/BAC test(s), but avoid standing on your head and reciting the magna carta and that kind of thing.
If you want to piss off/impress cops, learn to say the alphabet backwards. Some friends and I did that a couple of lifetimes ago, when we were getting singled out for harassment.
But it doesn’t work with the alphabet song. But it does work to the tune of “Old McDonald had a Farm”. (ZYXWVUT,SRQPO, . . )
If you’re really innocent, tell them to just skip to the breath test.
Road stops for the innocent suck, and are one of the reasons why I still own . . . stuff.
Here in Australia your answer makes no difference, I don’t know why they bother asking. Every time I’ve been pulled over (4 or 5) I’ve been tested and only the first time did I answer yes. I’ve asked around the last few days and no-one I asked has ever been pulled over and not tested. Mind you we have had a policy of random breath testing for many years here. I know people who drive a lot who have lost count of the number of times they have been tested. At a guess I see a Random Breath Test unit every 10 days or so.
Here the only sobriety test is a breath test, if you fail that it is back to the station for a blood test (if you agree to one…and the right to consult a lawyer before making that decision).
“Booze buses” are out frequently. They will stop every vechicle and ask you to recite your name and address into a sniffer thingy. If you fail that you blow in the bag. I can not imagine your average kiwis reaction if asked to touch their nose, recite the alphabet or walk a straight line. They all just seem a crazy way to test someone.
In my case the “say your name and address” bit I failed, the breathalyzer had me on the line. The blood test made me “innocent”. I could have touched my nose while reciting the alphabet and walking a straight line anmd walked away laughing. As it was I got a fright and learnt my lesson.
Not to condone drink-driving, but I am a very big guy, and one standard beer ain’t nuffin. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’d still be legally able to drive after one.
The trouble is, I don’t want the hassle of being taken to the Police Station and all the rest of it - even if I’m going to be under the limit. Alcohol in your mouth will affect the roadside breathalyser device (a sober person gargling and spitting out half a shot of rum will appear drunk to the machine). So, if I thought I were close to the limit:
“Have you had anything to drink tonight, sir?”
“Yes, just this minute before I got in the car, I had a beer.”
I believe in this case they are forced to wait fifteen minutes or so before testing you. That’s why they ask.