Memorial Day and other long holiday weekends often “host” an increase in drunk driving crashes. Therefore, driving under the influence (DUI) enforcement actions tend to increase around major holidays.
It’s common for those traveling on Memorial Day weekend to encounter DUI checkpoints. Lawyers helping people make sense of the charges they face afterward often hear the seven myths below asserted as fact.
What is really going on?
Learning the truth about these DUI checkpoint myths can help drivers better navigate checkpoints and limit their risk of prosecution.
- Myth one: Police departments must advertise checkpoints in advance. While some police departments do announce checkpoints on social media or local publications before they occur, doing so is not actually mandatory. So long as the police department has the right paperwork in place, advertising the checkpoint before erecting it isn’t necessary.
- Myth two: If drivers refuse everything, police must let them pass. Drivers have the right to refuse field sobriety testing or to decline to answer invasive questions. However, they have an obligation to provide identification and may need to submit to chemical testing if officers have the probable cause necessary to arrest them.
- Myth three: Drivers must answer all questions. Police officers can ask leading and intrusive questions at a checkpoint. Drivers are under no obligation to answer every question. They have the right to remain silent so long as they provide identification and other necessary information, such as insurance and registration paperwork.
- Myth four: It is illegal to bypass a checkpoint. The law does not actually prohibit people from rerouting when they notice a checkpoint ahead. Drivers can turn on to another road or conduct any other lawful maneuver that they can complete safely to avoid the checkpoint without risking arrest or a targeted stop, including a u-turn.
- Myth five: Mouthwash helps drivers pass breath tests. Nothing a person drinks or places in their mouth after consuming alcohol ensures that they pass a breath test. In fact, mouthwash may contain alcohol, which can artificially increase the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) reading produced during chemical testing.
- Myth six: If there was no Miranda warning, the charges get dismissed automatically. Police officers do not need to provide the Miranda warning at a checkpoint, as an individual is not yet under arrest. The Miranda warning is technically only necessary before post-arrest questioning. Officers can ask questions and arrest someone without giving the Miranda warning.
- Myth seven: Sleeping it off in the car is safe. Those who know there’s a checkpoint ahead might choose to sleep pulled over on the side of the road or in a business parking lot until they are sober enough to drive. While that is safer than driving while drunk, people can get arrested for DUI offenses while they are in physical control of a vehicle, even if it isn’t in motion or running.
Those facing checkpoint-related DUI charges need the insight of a criminal defense attorney. Reviewing what led to an arrest can help drivers plan the best defense strategy.
