Drunk Drivers Using Twitter

Sobriety checkpoints are a method used by the police to help catch drunk drivers that might not otherwise have been caught. In usual circumstances a police officer needs to justify probable cause in stopping someone so a person under the influence who obeys the speed limits and doesn’t violate other traffic laws is very difficult to catch.   Sobriety checkpoints have been an effective way of catching some of these drunk drivers without needing probable cause.  They have become a favored tool amongst certain police authorities, especially during maximum enforcement periods.

However, modern technology and more and more social network sites have started thwarting police efforts as people start to tweet and post about locations of these sobriety checkpoints. The iPhone and other smart phones now have custom built application made for the exact purpose of pointing out up to date locations of these police checkpoints. Habitual drink drivers can log on just before setting out on the road and using these applications can make sure that they avoid all of the posted checkpoints.

There are many police officers involved in setting up and managing a sobriety checkpoint. Despite the number of officers involved it is virtually impossible to react quickly enough to broadcasted location information from these twitter and other smart phone applications available. Police have tried to move and set up new sobriety checkpoints somewhere else however as quickly as they do move there location it is re-broadcasted to the general public and all of the potential drunk drivers as well.

Apart from catching drivers that are under the influence, sobriety checkpoints were a useful deterrent to stop people from driving drunk in the first place. People used to be scared of the of the risk of running into one of these checkpoints and being charged with a DUI. The deterrent value of these checkpoints to an individual with a twitter account, iPhone app or one of the other smart phone applications has now been virtually eliminated.

With the use of these applications not only are those people that may have been deterred still driving, but they are now driving further out of their way in order to avoid a certain area where a checkpoint has been posted. On top of that, they are also using their mobile phone while driving under the influence to keep up to date about these and any new checkpoint locations, making them even more unsafe than they would normally have been. Many people now contest that because of this the checkpoints are actually making the roads more dangerous!

Sobriety checkpoints continue to be one of the many tools that police use in their fight against drunk driving in San Diego. As more and more people get connected on social networking sites it remains to be seen how effective they will be at removing the hardcore habitual drunk drivers from the roads who now have this technology at their fingertips.