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People driving while talking on cell phones are a far more common and greater danger than DUI, yet you only get a slap on the wrist if caught. In NJ, if you get caught for DUI, you might as well put a bullet in your head.
These checkpoints are ridiculous, because even if you aren't drinking and driving, they will use it as an opportunity to inspect your car up close and give tickets for burnt out lights, expired inspection stickers, obscured plates, etc.
I imagine this will have a trickle down effect of hurting business at bars and restaurants. If the NJ gestapo will be nailing people at these checkspoints for having a sip of a beer (even if your BAC is less than the limit they can give you some kind of other "impaired driving" ticket), then people won't want to risk going to such places as much.
I'm sure the cops will love it for the overtime pay. They pretty much control the state anymore.
the DWI laws in NJ & the country are unconstituional & Draconian, murderes & rapists have more rights??? wait until you get a DWI for having 2-3 drinks and you go through what a family member of mine who maybe drinks 3x a year had to endure for a 1st time DWI...then talk to me about losing a loved one...totally absurd, he had the same punishments as someone who drinks & drives everyday......unfair & unjust...feel good legislation and huge money makers= DWI arressts!
The worst part about DUI checkpoints is the overall ignorance many people have towards them. In most checkpoints, there are never more than one or two arrests, and often there are ZERO arrests. When I worked for the newspaper we got all the blotters and arrest reports and it always amazed me how these checkpoints never seemed to yield any results. And hell, we're talking about checkpoints in Shore towns in Monmouth and Ocean counties in July!
Most of the checkpoints do, however, generate tons of revenue through "fix it" tickets like burnt out lights or other minor citations like overdue registration, etc. There are also tickets given out for unfastened seatbelts, "obstructed view" for things dangling off a mirror, tickets for a small crack in a windshield and tickets for license plate covers. And yes, it pained me to see a Monmouth County police chief and a town councilman having a good laugh about it when the chief came to a council meeting to report on the DWI checkpoint which yielded a grand total of zero DWI arrests.
I've long held that simply placing more officers out on patrol will crack down on DWI to a much farther extent than checkpoints. Officers on patrol can actually WITNESS dangerous driving and pull a vehicle over, rather than subjecting hundreds of innocent people to borderline-Constitutional Soviet-style "checkpoints" as if we were entering East Germany.
EDIT: Please ignore if you or a family member is a police officer and you have your "get out of jail free" cards at the ready. Or better yet, a courtesy shield illegally displayed in your window so they can wave you on by.
Last edited by VeradoDan; 11-02-2009 at 05:35 PM..
People driving while talking on cell phones are a far more common and greater danger than DUI, yet you only get a slap on the wrist if caught. In NJ, if you get caught for DUI, you might as well put a bullet in your head.
These checkpoints are ridiculous, because even if you aren't drinking and driving, they will use it as an opportunity to inspect your car up close and give tickets for burnt out lights, expired inspection stickers, obscured plates, etc.
I imagine this will have a trickle down effect of hurting business at bars and restaurants. If the NJ gestapo will be nailing people at these checkspoints for having a sip of a beer (even if your BAC is less than the limit they can give you some kind of other "impaired driving" ticket), then people won't want to risk going to such places as much.
I'm sure the cops will love it for the overtime pay. They pretty much control the state anymore.
Rant over.
This is part of why being able to rely on public transit is pretty sweet.
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