Why arent sobriety checkpoints widely adopted as an enforcement strategy in the United States?
Sobriety checkpoints have been used by police in the United States for at least the past two decades to enforce impaired driving laws. Research has indicated that sobriety checkpoints are effective in reducing drinking and driving and alcohol-related fatal crashes. Despite this evidence, many police agencies have been unenthusiastic about using checkpoints. Information was collected from all 50 states plus the District of Columbia on the use of sobriety checkpoints. A total of 37 states reported conducting sobriety checkpoints at least once or twice during the year. Only 11 states reported that checkpoints were conducted on a weekly basis. Thirteen states do not conduct checkpoints either because of legal or policy issues. More detailed information was collected from 5 states that conduct checkpoints frequently and matched with information from 5 similar states that conduct checkpoints infrequently. States with frequent checkpoint programs had several common features such as program th
