With all the danger in America right now . . .are DUI checkpoints REALLY needed????

The BBQ Pit
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Friday night, barely 11 days after the attack on the WTC:

I go out to have a dinner and a few brews with some friends after a hard days work. May I add a FEW- not enough to get stumbling drunk! Sorry if I and I would guess the majority of Americans do not buy into the “impairment begins with the first drink” argument.

Part of the evening’s discussion is about how brave New York cops are, and how important it is that law enforcement spend as much time as possible in catching the scumbags that are plotting attacks in this country.

It’s late, it’s time to go home and go to bed.

Travelling home, we suddenly see a sight that makes us wonder if there was a terrorist attack: Berks County and PA State Police police stopping every car on route 222!

Are they checking to see if any suspicious characters are carrying chemical weapons in their trunks? Perhaps an APB has been issued for terror suspects? Thank GOODNESS our brave and courageous law enforcement officials are doing their best to take quick action to prevent more innocent Americans from getting killed. . . .
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WRONG! It’s a stupid FUCKING sobriety checkpoint! They let some cars go by . . then they pull ME aside. Oh boy here we go with Banana Republic policing at it’s best.

These ass clowns spend 20 MINUTES doing their retarded tests, asking me invasive questions about where I was, what I ate, how much beer I had to drink. They even made me do the line test, which frankly I couldn’t pass perfectly SOBER, but I was able to successfully complete, since, well, I wasn’t drunk. I also lied to the cop about how much beer I had. He called me on it, so I finally asked him to get to the godamned point: am I over the legal limit or NOT?

I mean, either fucking ARREST me- or let me go home.

The result of all this bullshit??? I take a breathalyzer test to reveal a .04 BLOOD ALCOHOL LEVEL. That’s right, folks, I was harrassed and humiliated for nearly half an hour for having a BAL at 40% THE LEGAL LIMIT. I was more sober than when I’m drinking cough medicine.

I mean, wouldn’t it have been better to just do the breathalyzer up front and get it over with?

Since these Barney Fifes had nothing to pin on me, I left and saw a line of THIRTY CARS going the other way!!! 30 people who most likely just wanted to go home. This line included truck drivers! I mean, yeah, I’m sure they rolled their 18 wheeler to the local belch and beer to pick up chicks, and were on their way home.

I also loved how people that weren’t going to put up with this bullshit turned around to go the other way, thanks to a Pennsylvania Court Ruling that pointed out drivers have the right to do this, because even judges know deep down that checkpoints are bullshit. Unfortunaltey, the fuzz also has the right to pull them over, which they were doing with glee.

I mean, there had to be at least 20 FUCKING COPS involved with this! This in a county that hosts the city of Reading, PA- which has one of the highest per capita crime rates in the state. Hmmm . . maybe if we put all of those resources into arresting REAL criminals, Reading would be a bit safer?

I also really enjoyed the fat hillbilly local FUCKS at the Auto Body shop sitting on their lawn chairs in the parking lot, feeding their fat fucking faces with potato chips enjoying the whole thing. Yeah, looking at those bellies, I’m sure THEY never drink beer!

Look, preventing people from getting killed or hurt in drunk driving accidents is important. Police should be monitoring drivers that are erratic, speeding or swerving. But violating my rights, embarrassing and harrassing me for almost 30 minutes for no reason? Fuck THAT. I know, I know police have their procedure they must follow before issuing a breathalyzer test. But that is a moot point. The sobriety checkpoint is bullshit to begin with.

I have an idea: instead of wasting taxpayer money with your silly sobriety checkpoints, why not use your manpower and resources to do the following productive things for your community:

**1. Escort chemical tanker trucks through the county, in wake of news reports they might be targeted by terrorists.

  1. Guard mosques and Arab owned businesses from rednecks (like the ones sitting there watching all this) who might threaten or vandalize them.

  2. Patrol 1-78, where something like 20 people have been killed in accidents involving 18 wheel trucks over the past 2 years.

  3. Guard federal buildings.**

I mean, even stopping by the Krispy Kreme for a coffee and some dounts might be more productive than THIS nonsense. You never know, you might be preventing a robbery!

I can see it now . . .a chemical attack takes place in Reading. BUT many more people die than there has to be because every law enforcement officer within 50 square miles is too busy . . doing DUI checkpoints!

WHERE ARE OUT PRIORITIES, LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS??? I don’t know about you, but here are MINE:

  1. Preventing terrorism

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100. DUI ckeckpoints

Hey PA Cops- the NYPD are REAL cops, real men and real heroes, who are too busy catching real criminals and saving lives to bully law-abiding citizens. Your just a bunch of Keystoners.

Fuck you, fuck your sobriety checkpoints. Go catch a terrorist or something, and stop wasting my valuable time, bullies.

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:rolleyes:

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Well, since almost 16,000 people are killed annually in alcohol-related traffic crashes ((source), it can be considered as serious as a terrorist threat. I’d guess I’m personally much more likely to be killed by a drunk driver in the next year than a terrorist attack, so I don’t see why we shouldn’t keep up the enforcement.

Arjuna34

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Yeah, I’m not getting the outrage here.

They pulled you over and you weren’t drunk. Gold star for you. But if they pulled over one guy who was, who except for the checkpoint would be careening down the road to kill your parents or kids or friends, then IMO they are doing their job. If in so doing they inconvenienced you . . . well, boo effin’ hoo.

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yeah…

Lets pull all the cops from their jobs so EVERYONE can focus on Terrorist attacks. Lets trust that all the drunks won’t drive. Some people still seem to have a hard time believing that impared driving is a crime. A serious one. Thousands of people die every year from these morons. Far more than died on the 11th.

Sorry Vinnie, not going to agree with you on that one. Not a chance. IMHO they should have more of them.

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BTW, a more interesting and persuasive argument would be not that sobriety checkpoints are a waste of police resources or an inconvenience to the public, but that they are unconstitutional as unreasonable searches. Though the U.S. Supreme Court has held that they are constitutional under the Federal Constitution in Michigan v. Sitz, many states, including mine, have held that such checks are unconstitutional under state constitutions.

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Absolutely necessary.

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I’m with ya, man. Shit, just the other day I stole one - ONE, mind you - carton of smokes from the corner store. ONE TIME! It ain’t like I’m a fucking habitual offender; and christ on a cockrocket, there’s people robbing BANKS out there, what’s one goddamned carton of Marlboros? But sure enough, I get busted for it. Don’t these dickheads have anything more IMPORTANT to do?

:rolleyes:

Hate to break this to ya, Vin, but one part of local law enforcement is catching the random, ignorant assmuppet who thinks “don’t drink and drive” applies to everyone but him.

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In short: Yes. We have to keep enforcing those other laws, too. As many people died in the WTC/Pentagon attacks, Three times that will die in Drunk Driving attacks this year.

If you end up dead in a drunk driving accident, I’ll be sure to dance on your grave singing “I told you so!”

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Well, I just heard something that makes me wonder if sobriety checkpoints aren’t an even more important priority now. Now, I don’t have a cite for this, but my professor just told me that our local hospital is over capacity. Speculation is that the stress and depression over the terrorist attacks have put a lot of people in so-so health over the edge.

By that same token, couldn’t it be leading some people to drink more or be more careless about drinking and driving? I know a lot of Dopers, in the days after the attacks, were talking about drinking more.

Okay, it’s a stretch, maybe.

Vinnie, honey, I’d write you a glowing letter of recommendation to go write for the Onion after that headline thread, but damn every time you start a pit thread I feel like poking you in the schnozz real hard.

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Well Vinnie, you’ll be glad to know that I’m developing curriculum to teach police officers to sense drunk drivers from a distance! That way, they can pull over only those people who are over the legal limit, thus giving you back the 20 minutes you lost! Imagine that!

Not all cops are stupid, and not all NYPD cops are intelligent, valiant, cavalier demigods. Drunk drivers at the bottom of the priority list? Fuck you, Vinnie. I know of too many people who have been hurt or killed (myself included) by drunken assholes on the road to even think about sympathizing with you. 20 minutes you’re complaining about?? You selfish prick! I know people who have spent 6 months in traction recovering from a drunk hit-and-run.

I’m too pissed off to use rolley-eyes. While that would be my normal reaction to a cranio-rectal inversion victim, it doesn’t express the anger I’m feeling.

So you get a :mad: and another :mad:, Vinnie. If you ever have to experience the sorrow and fear and rage that comes with a drunk driving accident, you’ll change that tune pretty fucking quick.

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I would just like to add a :rolleyes:

Not that I wish harm to your vinnie but remember this next time you get in an accident with a drunk driver.

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Let me stop my timer . . DING!!!

Okay, here’s a stat:

POTENTIAL Americans who could be killed in a DUI accident:
16,000

POTENTIAL Americans who could be wiped out in a terrorist nuclear, chemical or biological attack:
0-230 MILLION

That’s a mean thing to say. For the record, Saint, I don’t wish you dead.

Good, your on to something. I appreciate the service you are doing for our community.

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Compared to the local bike patrol I had to put up with Friday night, NYPD cops sure ARE.

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No, DUI checkpoints are at #100. Real methods to stop DUI are higher on my list trust me. Nice to see you took the time to read and comprehend my OP.

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I wasn’t legally drunk. Don’t get mad at me. I already said preventing drunk driving is very important in my OP, I just don’t think DUI checkpoints are they right way to go.

Not that I will ever win against the emotional argument on this issue. This is how MADD bullies legislators into passing more and more intrusive DUI laws, like ridiculously low BAL limits and even trying to have drunk drivers cars taken from them. What kind of heartless sob that wants to get re-elected would argue against you?

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Sorry to ruin you day. You sound very angry.

Everyone’s a tough guy on the Internet, Crank! :slight_smile: I appreciate the compliments, but let’s analyze what you just said:

It’s okay for me print tasteless WTC headline ads . . .but not to speak out my mind?

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This may not be an appropriate time to joke but…

You got killed? Seems you must have gotten better?

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You have every right to state your opinion, VINNIE, just as the rest of us have every right to yawn at it. See how it works both ways?

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You’ve summarized this adequately enough I guess. This goes for all Dopers: Make me laugh, and I love ya. Say something I disagree with strongly, and then I bitch and moan. Judging by the reaction to my previous 2000+ posts, I think most people play by these same rules, at least when dealing with me anyhow. :slight_smile:

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What is the official definition of “alcohol-related” deaths?

Number caused by someone who is above the legal limit, or number caused by someone with any measurable reading?

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Arjuna34, you do realize that the term “alcohol-related” is a bullshit term deliberately designed to overinflate the apparent number of drunk-driving deaths, don’t you?

As this site points out, a drunk pedestrian Vinnie who wanders into traffic and gets killed by a sober driver is an “alcohol-related” accident. If a sober truck driver were to jump lanes and kill a 0.04 BAC Vinnie, that too would be an “alcohol-related” accident. If Vinnie were sober when that 18-wheeler killed him, but had just dropped by the bar to carry away a case of beer in the trunk of his car, that too might be classified as an “alcohol-related” accident.

The reason why “alcohol-related” is used in place of the much more honest “alcohol-caused” is because it’s exceedingly difficult to show that traffic deaths have been reduced by pumping a quarter of a million Americans a year through the judicial system for alcohol offenses. It’s also exceedingly difficult to show that drivers at the 0.08 BAC level cause more deaths than sober drivers.

The numbers are intentionally inflated in order to justify the crusade against drunk driving. They prove absolutely nothing.

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Vinnie: Nobody said they wished you dead. The statement wast that, once you do croak, then the dance would be on your grave. Tacky, to be sure; however, it wasn’t a stated wish for you to die any sooner.

Next: You might not have been drunk, but you certainly may have been impaired. Ever hear of “wet reckeless driving?”

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Jeez, I’m surprised this thread’s gone on so long. I thought Guinastasia said everything that needed to be said in response. In fact, that was my first reaction upon seeing the thread title.

So, to reiterate…:rolleyes: