08-18-2013, 07:45 AM
I've been through the occasional checkpoint. Roll down the window, say "good evening officer", and get waved through. It takes no longer than stopping at a stop sign.
One of the good things that a checkpoint can do, is to slow down the number of drunks on the road. If the drinker knows there will be a checkpoint, he is much more likely to arrange an alternative way to get home instead of driving drunk. That's most of the point, to keep the drunks from behind the wheel in the first place.
I think the bigger issue here is: What is the system doing with the drunks once they catch them? Is any effort made to keep them off the road, or do they get a slap on the wrist and turned loose again?
I suspect that a suspended license doesn't do much to prevent a drunk from driving anyway. So something more stringent should be done, once he has been caught.
One of the good things that a checkpoint can do, is to slow down the number of drunks on the road. If the drinker knows there will be a checkpoint, he is much more likely to arrange an alternative way to get home instead of driving drunk. That's most of the point, to keep the drunks from behind the wheel in the first place.
I think the bigger issue here is: What is the system doing with the drunks once they catch them? Is any effort made to keep them off the road, or do they get a slap on the wrist and turned loose again?
I suspect that a suspended license doesn't do much to prevent a drunk from driving anyway. So something more stringent should be done, once he has been caught.