The Lauderhill Police Department will host a multi-agency DUI checkpoint from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. Friday, January 13, 2012 to Saturday, January 14, 2012.
It will take place in the 3400 block of Sunrise Boulevard in Lauderhill and will affect local traffic patterns, police said.
DUI checkpoints are routinely administered by law enforcement agencies. These checkpoints permit police to stop vehicles at random. Upon randomly stopping a car, an officer will approach the driver to check to see whether the driver may be impaired by drugs or alcohol.
Common signs of impairment include:
Bloodshot, watery eyes
Slurred speech
Flushed face
Odor of alcoholic beverage
Officers may ask the driver to submit to roadside exercises, also know as field sobriety tests (FST). These tests include the walk-and-turn, the one-leg stand, and
horizontal gaze nystagmus (HGN).
You may refuse to submit to roadsides. However, if the officers suspect that you are impaired, they can arrest you anyway.
They may also ask you to submit to a breath test. You may refuse to submit, unless you have previously had your driver's license suspended for failure to submit to a breath test. In that case, you must submit or you will be arrested and charged with a misdemeanor.
If officers suspect you are impaired, you will be arrested and charged with DUI.
Checkpoints also permit officers to check the status of your driver's license. You could get arrested for driving while license suspended if you are caught driving and your license is revoked or suspended.
In any event, a DUI checkpoint is a legal fishing expedition. Cops can stop your car and conduct an investigatory stop. It is in your best interest to avoid DUI checkpoints if you have had anything to drink. While you should never drive impaired and should always use a designated driver, police may mistakenly believe that you are impaired just because you have an odor of an alcoholic beverage on your breath, even if you are not impaired! An odor of an alcoholic beverage will be present on your breath if you have a sip of an alcoholic drink.
But if - God forbid - you get caught up in this DUI checkpoint this weekend, call me at (305) 542-9491.