Say that you’re driving home after work one evening when you see a DUI checkpoint on the road ahead of you. You know that these checkpoints are legal, and you also know that arriving at the checkpoint means you have to listen to the instructions from the police officers. They may want to talk to you and check your identification before you move on. Their goal is to find drivers who are intoxicated or impaired as they go through the checkpoint.
That being said, you may not want to have this interaction with the police, even if you’re completely sober. Do you have to drive through the checkpoint, or can you just seek out an alternative route?
There are ways to avoid a checkpoint
The good news here is that you’re not obligated to drive through the checkpoint, and there are tactics you can use to avoid it. Some people simply turn around. Others find an alternative route, like driving down smaller side streets to avoid the main road.
The police can pull you over if you make an illegal maneuver in order to do this. For instance, in many areas, making a U-turn on the road is illegal, even if the driver can see that there’s no other traffic on the road. If the police officers at the checkpoint watch your headlights as you pull a U-turn farther up the street and begin driving the other way, they would then have reasonable suspicion to stop your car. Even if you were sober, they could still stop you for a traffic violation.
If you do end up facing DUI charges, remember how much they can impact your future. Take the time to look into all of your legal defense options.