Holiday weekends, family barbecues and summer picnics are here. Along with these relaxing, fun-filled activities come good food, friends and social drinking. While this may be a great combination at the time, once it is time to go home, unless a designated driver has been appointed, there may be a problem. Colorado law enforcement has publicized the fact that they will be utilizing DUI checkpoints throughout the summer season as one way to curb drinking and driving.
Most of the time, these checkpoints are set up during evening hours. Officers will often create a roadblock at an intersection and require all drivers to stop. As a driver approaches the intersection, officers will generally request to see his or her driver’s license, registration and insurance card.
As this brief interaction takes place, officers are looking for signs that the driver has been drinking. If it is suspected that this is the case, the officer will then usually begin to ask more questions and may ask the driver to pull to the side of the road and step out of the vehicle. A driver suspected of being under the influence of alcohol or drugs will usually be asked to participate in a field sobriety tests, known as voluntary roadside manuevers, and/or submit to a portable breath test on-scene.
If the officer believes that the driver is legally impaired, the driver will likely be charged with DUI or another related offense. At this point, the driver will want to seek legal counsel regarding the best way to defend against these charges in a Colorado court. An experienced attorney can review the evidence, test results, the method used to obtain evidence and other related data. All of this will then be used to create an appropriate defense to the charges.
Source: kdvr.com, “DUI checkpoints to be set up across metro area over Memorial Day weekend“, May 25, 2017