DUI CHECKPOINTS TIME & DURATION REQUIREMENTS

Time and Duration Requirements of DUI Checkpoints

TIME AND DURATION OF DUI CHECKPOINTS

Screening officers are known to direct drivers to a secondary screening area for the purposes of a further DUI investigation, based solely upon their admission to having even having the odor of an alcoholic beverage or admitting you had consumed any alcohol. Absent some sign of impairment, this further detention could be deemed to be unconstitutional depending on the time and duration of the detention.

DUI checkpoints can only pass constitutional muster where the initial screening is minimally intrusive and brief, and where only those drivers exhibiting signs of impairment are further detained to a secondary screening area. See Michigan Department of State Police v. Sitz, (1990) and Ingersoll v. Palmer, (1987). Where a motorist merely acknowledges to having had a drink or two, but the officer does not detect any sign of impairment (either in the manner of driving or by the operator’s physical manifestations), then there is no constitutional basis for further detention to a secondary screening area.