FORT LAUDERDALE DUI CHECKPOINT - FRIDAY, JULY 1ST - SATURDAY, JULY 2ND

DUI CHECKPOINT

10 p.m. Friday, July 1^st to 2 a.m. Saturday, July 2nd

900 N.W. 31 Ave., Fort Lauderdale 33311

If you choose to drive in the area around the checkpoint, you run the risk of being caught up in it. Be smart about your actions. First, have your driver license, registration and insurance card in an easily accessible place. You don’t want to be rummaging through your car trying to find these items. Second, if you have been drinking, say as little as possible. From the moment the officer sees you, everything, and I mean, EVERYTHING, the officer believes is a sign of impairment will be noted and used against you – your driving pattern; how you look (flushed face; red bloodshot watery eyes); do you smell of alcohol; your speech; were you unable to find your documents; how you answered questions; your balance; your demeanor; etc.

In a typical checkpoint, the officers will make contact with you while you are in your car. If you admit to drinking or if the officer notices that you smell of alcohol or that your eyes are bloodshot and glassy or that your speech is slurred or that your face is flushed, you will probably be requested to step out of your car and take the roadside exercises.  If you refuse to take the roadside sobriety tests, the officer is in the difficult position of deciding whether to arrest you based on the evidence gathered up to that point (i.e. driving patter, speech, balance, physical signs) or whether to let you go.

If you smell of alcohol and show any of the other signs of being impaired by alcohol, you will more likely than not be arrested if you don’t take the roadside sobriety exercises. However, these exercises can sometimes be difficult to perform for people who have not had anything to drink.  If you choose to do the roadside exercises, you should definitely let the officer know about  physical or mental problems that might impact how you perform the exercises.

Roadside sobriety exercises are routinely videotaped. The exercises will most certainly be videotaped at a checkpoint. Any video of your performance on the exercises is critical evidence effecting your case. If you look good while performing the exercises on video and later refuse the breath test,  your charge could be potentially reduced.  On the other hand, the expression: “a picture is worth a thousand words” is more true in a DUI case.  I believe jurors weigh a person’s performance on video to be critical especially if the breath test was refused.

Your performance of the exercises will be used against you. If you refuse to take the exercise, your refusal will be used against you. If you have been drinking, you will probably not perform the exercises well and your performance will be used against you.

If you or someone you know gets arrested for DUI – call Fort Lauderdale Criminal DUI Attorney Gary Cole at 954-462-4600. 

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