Effectiveness of Sobriety Checkpoints

Anti-drunk driving campaigns are designed to encourage people to reconsider their decision to drink and drive. Although driving while intoxicated campaigns are straightforward, strategies that will effectively accomplish the objective is much more difficult to pinpoint. Many campaigns use fear tactics; however, researchers find that using this method is mixed.

Drinking and driving is said to be the primary contributor to automotive related deaths. “By law, a driver is considered to be impaired by alcohol if his or her blood alcohol content is 0.08 percent or higher” (Holzmueller). As a matter of fact, “in 2010, about 86 percent of all fatalities alcohol-involved crashes were in cases where a driver or pedestrian had a BAC of .08 or higher” (“The Economic and Societal Impact of Motor Vehicle Crashes, 2010” 147). Laws and penalties have been created and applied in recent years that make it more difficult to get away with drinking and driving. If drivers are charged with alcohol-impaired driving, “they face suspension or revocation of their license” (Holzmueller).

A DUI conviction is a permanent part of ones driving record. Even though alcohol related accidents are on the decline, statistics show that a drunk driver kills someone every forty-five minutes. More so, fifty to seventy percent of drunk drivers whose licenses are suspended continue to drive. In 2000, alcohol related crashes cost the public $114.3 billion dollars! Drunk driving carries with it serious penalties from the court system and car insurance companies. One moment of fun can turn into a lifetime of heartache and tragedy. Therefore, it is not worth the risk. Possible prevention measures and solutions are not only for the law enforcement, but for the public as well. Drunk drivers face a hardcore court system, which is intolerant of DUI. Stricter penalties such as automatic licenses revocation, mandatory jail sentencing, vehicle impounding, and licenses plate confiscating are just a few ways the judicial system is handling the DUI problem. Programs such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving and Students Against Drunk Driving have led the way to bringing awareness to society. People need to be responsible and supervise their consumption to ensure that they do not drink too much. They have a moral and a legal responsibility to make sure of this. It is always best to have a designated driver. The most effective way people can prevent driving drunk is to make a personal decision not to drink

Impaired driving is a world wide problem that people are searching for a solution too, but it is very hard to find. So we wonder, what

Introduction: long ago the government banned the ability to make alcohol. This has caused a huge uproar which then people started to boot legging, as more and more people started to drink in the safety of their own homes. After the government saw how people were protesting this new law, they decided that they should left the ban. Since then people were able to drink in public, which in return has created another issue, now that they are drunk at a bar, how do they get home. Rather than taking the safe option and utilize some of the state and local programs and call a tow truck, the Driver chooses to just drive how drunk. They think that it’s ok, since they do not have their full mind.

The officer can also ask for pat-down (stop and frisk) of the driver and the occupants of the car, or if any sniffer dogs smell through the vehicle to find out if there are any drugs being carried or sometimes they may stop on highways without any suspicion as well.

In 2013, 10,076 people were killed in drunk driving incidents. Out of those people, 65% (6,515) were drivers, 27% (2,724) were passengers, and 8% (837) were non-passengers (“Drunk Driving Statistics”). Over half of those fatalities (67.1%) involved blood alcohol levels over .15% (“Drunk Driving Statistics”). The legal blood-alcohol content is .08%. Drunk driving caused 31% of deaths in car crashes in 2013 (“Drunk Driving Statistics”). In 2012, 402 people were killed by alcohol impairment in North Carolina (“Drunk Driving Statistics”). These numbers, though they seem astonishing, have been cut in half since 1991 (“Drunk Driving Statistics”). Even though the number of fatalities has been lowered, that number is not low enough. Most drunk drivers are repeat offenders. Lives are being taken because of the careless attitude of the drunk drivers. Drunk driving is selfish; those who commit this crime do not think about the extreme consequences of their actions. In North America it is estimated that 1-5 drivers has been drinking and 1 in 10 is legally impaired on any Friday or Saturday night (Root). Many groups, including MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving), are fighting to stop drunk driving. Unfortunately, drunk driving cannot be stopped. People will always commit this heinous crime. The numbers may go down, but unfortunately there will always be a number. The only way to continually decrease the amount of lives lost is to increase punishments for drunk driving.

Drunk driving is an epidemic that continues to have severe and life threatening consequences for those involved, if we simply take a few steps against drunk driving we can help decrease this epidemic.

Drunk driving is a serious problem, and much has been done in recent years to stop it. Every day drunk drivers are arrested,

Law enforcement agencies throughout Maricopa County often conduct sobriety checkpoints. Like others who find themselves at such stops, you may be unsure of your rights. As a result, you could incriminate yourself. Therefore, it is important for you to understand your options to help protect yourself from an unwarranted arrest.

In deterrence, rather than attempting to lobby for new legislation, our goal will be to publicize the existing laws that prohibit drinking and driving; specifically, we aim to inform people about the large penalties associated with breaking these laws. That being said, we will not be relying on fear appeals to propel our message. Fear appeals, such as detailing the tragic deaths of innocent bystanders due to intoxicated drivers, “can potentially increase undesirable behavior” (Centers for Disease Control, 2016). In comparison, messages based on establishing or shaping social norms can have an extremely positive effect. As such, communications and outreach is truly the foundation of our proposed program. Our series of workshops aims to educate and inform drivers about the specific consequences and costs of drinking and driving. With wide enough implementation and reach, these workshops have the potential to help form societal norms that deter drunk driving through peer pressure. In a study, “a paid media campaign was developed with the normative message, “MOST Montana Young Adults (4 out of 5) Don’t Drink and Drive.” By the end of the campaign, there was a 13.7% decrease in young adults who reported driving after drinking relative to a comparison community” (Centers for Disease Control, 2016). This example demonstrates the

importance is the mission statement of MADD as shown on their website, “To end drunk driving, help fight drugged driving, support the victims of these violent crimes, and prevent underage drinking.”(MADD) While this evidence seems to support the continued use of roadside checkpoints, further analysis may prove otherwise. First, observe that one of the primary backers of sobriety checkpoints admits that the purpose is not based upon catching drunk drivers but is instead to deter them from driving to begin with. This is supported by Jeffrey Greene in his article about drunk driving. Greene states that about 800 impaired drivers have been arrested in Ohio over a period of 15 years, while about 25000 are arrested annually through saturation patrols(Greene).

Field sobriety tests are usually performed before more scientific tests to determine if a driver

Driving under the influence of alcohol has affected and devastated countless people’s lives. Driving under the influence is one of the most dangerous situations you can put yourself or someone else into. The evidence against driving while intoxicated is massive and it has left a long trail of broken dreams and lives. If you drink and drive, not only do you possibly put yourself at risk, but your passengers and pedestrians, and other people on the roads. According to the most recent statistics by the National Commission Against Drunk Driving is that 17, 000 Americans die each year in alcohol-related traffic crashes and 600,000 Americans are injured. (National Commission Against Drunk Driving, 2003). That’s an average of one fatality every

The resulting pursuit driver training programs will lead to an exchange of information, an increase in knowledge and the development of skills necessary for law enforcement officers to successfully conduct vehicular pursuits. They are making many different programs for people, including the guide: Strengthening the Citizen and Police Partnership at the Traffic Stop: Professionalism is a Two-Way Street This guide is for law enforcement agencies to assist them in conduct traffic stops in a professional manner, to enhance public relations and image of the law enforcement agency, maintain the credibility of the law enforcement agency and to minimize the number of complaints. 1999 Crime-Clock this graphic was developed to compares the incidences of traffic crashes that injure and kill motorists to the assaults and deaths associated with crime in a "snapshot" format. You Drink & Drive, You Lose. America's New Impaired Driving Campaign A new and comprehensive impaired driving prevention program for states and communities to use in reach the national goal of reducing alcohol-related deaths to no more than 11,000 by the year 2005. The campaign targets high-risk populations such as 21- to 34-year-olds, high blood alcohol and repeat offenders, and underage drinkers by increasing public education, expanding public-private partnerships, enacting strong