Efforts to stop drunk drivers not in vain

Louis G. Dominguez
Published: May 30, 2008

Drunk drivers kill innocent people, sometimes, entire families.  DUI checkpoints conducted by the county police are not only a deterrent for some drinkers, but also serve to nab all manner of scofflaws.

In a recent letter to the editor, Sarah Longwell said that the present county drunk-driving `strategy does not work. Actually, it does.

Chronic drunks, or repeat drunk drivers are not intimidated by any strategy to catch them, they drink and drive until they are caught and many continue to drive drunk no matter how many times they are caught.

DUI or sobriety checkpoints produce excellent results as any cop that has participated in them can attest. You catch drivers without a license; drivers without insurance; drivers that can’t prove ownership of the vehicle that they are driving; drivers who have outstanding warrants and/or are wanted criminals; drug runners or sellers with all manner of drugs in their vehicle; drivers high on drugs; drivers with
stolen vehicles; vehicles with no valid state or county stickers; and yes, lots of drunks.

Roving police patrols as Ms. Longwell suggest, definitely produces the arrest of some drunk drivers, but it takes an officer away from his/her patrol area for two hours or more to process the drunk driver as opposed to the roadblocks where there are teams of dedicated officers to do the job.

DUI checkpoints are also safer for officers since they do not have to deal with a drunk in the middle of the road at night and by themselves.

Then, when a cop stops somebody for possible drunk driving, there is always a question of “probable cause,” which is not the case in roadblocks or DUI checkpoints: Everyone is stopped and no one could ever accuse a cop of profiling.

Prince William County police officers as well as Virginia State Troopers on patrol and particularly those on the night shift arrest a good number of drunk drivers, but despite their best efforts the number of drunk drivers on our roads remains constant.

We must redouble our efforts to achieve “voluntary compliance” via education, deterrents and enforcement.

LOUIS G. DOMINGUEZ

Gainesville