With the July 4th weekend coming to an end, I would like to focus this post on sobriety checkpoints. Sobriety checkpoints are police stops where officers are set up on a roadway to stop vehicles to check for impaired drivers. These are usually set up during times when impaired driving is known to happen, such as holiday weekends - such as this past weekend.

As a DUI Lawyer in Atlanta, I am familiar with just how often sobriety checkpoints are used within the city. The reality is that holiday weekends bring more drivers to the city of Atlanta. As a result of more drivers there are more officers and more sobriety checkpoints.

In today's post, I will outline the list of rules that the police must follow when conducting a sobriety checkpoint in Atlanta.

Sobriety Checkpoints in Atlanta

There are certain rules that must be followed in order to set up a lawful checkpoint. This can mean that if one of these rules are not followed or abided by, then a DUI accused driver might be able to be completely relieved of all charges.

The rules are as follows. If a checkpoint is to be considered as compliant and lawful, then it must be demonstrated by the state of Georgia that…

• The decision to implement the roadside checkpoint as well as the procedures for carrying it out were made by supervisory personnel, rather than officers in the field; and
• The roadside checkpoint served a legitimate purpose; and
• All passing vehicles were stopped as opposed to random stops; and
• The delay to motorists was minimal; and
• The roadblock was well identified as a police checkpoint; and
• The screening officers' training and experience was sufficient to qualify the officers to make a determination of which drivers should be investigated for impairment.

You can see from the law that checkpoints are actually held to a higher standard than traffic stops. Officers can't just set up a DUI checkpoint for any old reason. There are requirements that must be followed.

Practice Note

If you or a loved one was arrested for a DUI in Atlanta as the result of a sobriety checkpoint in the city, contact our offices today. An Atlanta DUI Attorney can help you now.