Year after year, law enforcement agencies all around the country see a considerable spike in driving under influence (DUI) arrests starting around Thanksgiving and ending after New Year’s Day. To coincide with this information, the National Safety Council (NSC) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) report that each national holiday sees an increase in car accidents and traffic-related fatalities, many of which are associated with intoxicated driving. This makes it pretty clear that the danger of drunk drivers is heightened around the holidays, especially Thanksgiving when people are passing around wine to family and friends.
In addition to people passing around wine and eggnog before hitting the road again, the end-of-the-year holiday season lends itself to more traffic accidents for two more reasons: increased traffic and weather conditions. There are a thousand reasons why someone would choose not to fly to see relatives and hit the highways instead; with so many people on the road and driving across states and state lines, the odds of crashing into someone goes up. And if you live in any part of the USA that has four seasons, like Delaware for example, snowfall and ice begins accumulating on the streets this time each year, making new dangers for drivers to avoid, or not.
Over the Limit & Overzealous
DUI sobriety checkpoints are a popular way for police to nab intoxicated drivers and pull them off the road. But are they the right way to make these arrests? For the longest time, DUI checkpoints have been surrounded by controversy.
To begin, setting up a chokepoint on a popular street and stopping everyone who goes down it can feel like a form of profiling – the people being profiled are the ones who live in or traverse that area. Not to mention the traffic havoc a DUI sobriety checkpoint can cause. Secondly, police at these checkpoints are being told that drivers in the area are drunk. This “they are all criminals” mindset can lead to overzealousness and arrests based on minimal or nonexistent evidence; a driver who is sober but nervous from the police presence, for example, could be cuffed.
If you live in Delaware, expect DUI checkpoints along major highways, including:
- Delaware Route 1
- U.S. Route 13
- U.S. Route 113
- Interstate 95
If you are pulled over for a DUI this holiday season and subsequently arrested, whether you are at a checkpoint or not, you can turn to Abram and Hutchison and our Delaware DUI attorney for assistance. Our law firm handles routinely handles out-of-state DUI arrests that occur when a Delaware resident is traveling to New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and other nearby states for the holidays and business.
Schedule a free consultation with our team today to learn how we can help you defend your driving privilege.