California DUI Checkpoints Require Advanced Public Warning – So Why All the Buzz?
There’s an old saying that there is no such thing as bad publicity. That was certainly the case for the maker of a recent Smartphone app that alerted drivers to DUI checkpoints. Once a handful of Senators publicly called attention to the app by calling it a “menace to road safety”, sales went through the roof. The unintentional favorable publicity caused downloads to increase by 5,000 percent and sales by 3,000 percent.
But the fact is that DUI checkpoints…at least in California…must be publically advertised prior to the date of the checkpoint. Furthermore, they must be clearly visible to approaching drivers and allow an exit route for drivers who don’t wish to stop at the roadblock.
Given these checkpoint laws, it’s crazy that actual lawmakers would call even more public attention to this issue. And the fact is that there are a TON of websites that alert drivers to these checkpoints on a regular basis. Singling out an app for doing what already is and has been done to alert drivers to these costly, low arrest-generating, controversial checkpoints only hurt the Senators’ cause…and introduced a new portion of the public who was unaware of these types of alerts to just how easy it is to receive this type of information.
