DUI Checkpoints

[Frobozz]

Are DUI checkpoints a money maker? I wasn't aware DUI was a money maker. It seems like there is so much cost with jail and trials and everything.

How do they make money off them?

Oh it's a huge cash cow. Major money. Most first offenders will not do jail, even if mandatory, but they will pay through the ass on fines and court costs... then you add in the associated probation costs, etc. So a typical DUI will cost the city 50 dollars to prosecute, but net them 3k.

[chaedog]

Oh yeah even more money then that as well. I had a co-worker get her 3rd DUI, and she had around 5k in fines and court fees, then did 90 days in jail, and since she had a job, had work release so had to pay the jail an extra $45 a day (every day she got out to work) so she was basically there for dinner and sleep that was it. On top of that all the food items in jail were very expensive and ala cart ($3 for one pack of Ramen?), had to pay for it, then after the 90 days, she was on probation for 3 years, had to pay a couple hundred dollars a month for that (her probation officer would randomly check on her once or twice a month, with a surprise breathalyzer test. Also do 200 hours of community service. Last but not least if she wants to get her drivers license back she has to pay another big fine (over 1k) and jump through a lot of hoops like take a program and tests and what not.

Very expensive, not to mention if she does drive again she's paying maximum amount for car insurance. She's not going to be driving again though, her boyfriend drives (he's had two DUIs) and they recently bought a house within walking distance to where she works so she doesn't need one (and shouldn't!)

[Frobozz]

Oh yeah even more money then that as well. I had a co-worker get her 3rd DUI, and she had around 5k in fines and court fees, then did 90 days in jail, and since she had a job, had work release so had to pay the jail an extra $45 a day (every day she got out to work) so she was basically there for dinner and sleep that was it. On top of that all the food items in jail were very expensive and ala cart ($3 for one pack of Ramen?), had to pay for it, then after the 90 days, she was on probation for 3 years, had to pay a couple hundred dollars a month for that (her probation officer would randomly check on her once or twice a month, with a surprise breathalyzer test. Also do 200 hours of community service. Last but not least if she wants to get her drivers license back she has to pay another big fine (over 1k) and jump through a lot of hoops like take a program and tests and what not.

Very expensive, not to mention if she does drive again she's paying maximum amount for car insurance. She's not going to be driving again though, her boyfriend drives (he's had two DUIs) and they recently bought a house within walking distance to where she works so she doesn't need one (and shouldn't!)

I can refer her, and her boyfriend, to several very good inpatient treatment centers for alcohol in Michigan.

[Gromgor]

I wonder how long until some tea party type militias decide roaming the country killing cops is the only way to push back?

I feel like that is where we are headed.

This is precisely the 2nd American Revolution I've been talking about for years. History repeats itself and as society grows more and more discontent, the Red Coats....I mean Cops...are going to show up to try to disarm us. Somebody will object, violently, and the country will deal with some very interesting times.

[chaedog]

I can refer her, and her boyfriend, to several very good inpatient treatment centers for alcohol in Michigan.

They've learned their lesson, if they do drink now they just do it at home, don't go out to the bars. Her last DUI was actually her being really stupid as to why she got it. She got into a fight with her boyfriend, and stormed out of the house (they were both wasted at the time) At the time they lived in an apartment house located next to a public parking lot, where they'd park their car. Since it was cold out she started the car to stay warm and passed out, a cop pulled up to her car and knocked on the window, when he smelled the booze he told her he really wished that she'd just fallen asleep before starting the car. Since the car was running he had to take her in. If she would have stormed out of the house and never put the keys in the ignition then she wouldn't have been arrested.


I think what helped her heal the most though was she did her community service at a local food pantry and she saw first hand at how many lives drugs and alcohol can easily ruin. She's been done with everything paid all her fines, did all her probation tasks ect...

[Aristotle]

Since it was cold out she started the car to stay warm and passed out, a cop pulled up to her car and knocked on the window, when he smelled the booze he told her he really wished that she'd just fallen asleep before starting the car. Since the car was running he had to take her in. If she would have stormed out of the house and never put the keys in the ignition then she wouldn't have been arrested.

This is one of the weirdest, most fucked up things about DUI.

What if someone is in an RV and they are drunk with the engine running, while parked somewhere?

[Reshad]

This is one of the weirdest, most fucked up things about DUI.

What if someone is in an RV and they are drunk with the engine running, while parked somewhere?

I knew someone that got arrested sleeping in back seat of their car for DUI*. They knew they were too drunk to drive, so climbed in back seat to sleep it off. Cop gave them DUI because they were in the car with the car keys.

Two months later, they got arrested for drunk in public when they locked their keys in the car and slept underneath the back end of the car to avoid a repeat of the previous charge.

Edit:
* They were arrested for DUI. I don't know what happened after (whether charges were upheld or thrown out).

[Frobozz]

This is one of the weirdest, most fucked up things about DUI.

What if someone is in an RV and they are drunk with the engine running, while parked somewhere?

Depends on the state. In Ohio that would be called "physical control", basically the same thing as a DUI. They had to create that a couple of years ago because the prosecutors were getting roflstomped on that type of fact pattern.

Basically, if you're close to drunk dont get in a car... hell if you have been near someone who has been around someone that knows someone who has drank something in the last 20 years you probably shouldnt drive.

Dont even get me started on the marihuana/marijuana DUIs where the "legal" limit for that, in every state, means that if you smoked within the last 30 days you'll be over.... you read that right. If you smoked on January 1 you will be over the legal limit on January 30. Fun fact.

[Aristotle]

Basically, if you're close to drunk dont get in a car... hell if you have been near someone who has been around someone that knows someone who has drank something in the last 20 years you probably shouldnt drive.

How does this work for RVs?

What if the RV is someone's legal residence?

[Frobozz]

How does this work for RVs?

What if the RV is someone's legal residence?

That's the problem. RVs still fall under the definition of motor vehicle for purposes of DUI type prosecutions:

(B) "Motor vehicle" means any vehicle, including mobile homes and recreational vehicles, that is propelled or drawn by power other than muscular power or power collected from overhead electric trolley wires.

If you have the vehicle's engine running you are almost certain to get hit with a DUI. The good news is that when the RV is parked the only way you get hit with the Physical Control (alternate DUI charge with almost the same penalties) is if you:

(B) No person shall be in physical control of a vehicle, streetcar, or trackless trolley if, at the time of the physical control, any of the following apply:

(1) The person is under the influence of alcohol, a drug of abuse, or a combination of them .

(2) The person's whole blood, blood serum or plasma, breath, or urine contains at least the concentration of alcohol specified in division (A)(1)(b), (c), (d), or (e) of section 4511.19 of the Revised Code.