What to Do When You Are at DUI Checkpoint

DUI checkpoints, also known as sobriety roadblocks, are temporary setups law enforcement officers use to pull over drivers to check for alcohol or drug impairment. The main goal is promoting public safety. By detecting and detaining impaired drivers, they prevent accidents. They also deter others from driving while impaired. It is important to understand that DUI checkpoints are legal within standards established by the California Supreme Court in the Ingersoll v. Palmer case. This ruling ensures the stops cause the drivers the least inconvenience and intrusion and maximize effectiveness and safety protocols.

The information below includes what to expect at a DUI checkpoint and how to conduct yourself safely and legally. Understanding that these stops are lawful when carried out correctly under California law is the first step toward a successful encounter.

Prepare for the Stop Before You See the Lights

When you reach a known or suspected DUI checkpoint area, you should concentrate on driving safely and lawfully. Keep a steady pace until you notice signs or an officer instructing you to slow down, then slow down steadily and predictably. Do not use your brakes or change lanes at the last minute to avoid suspicion.

Before leaving home, be in the habit of ensuring your vehicle complies with the law. Make sure headlights, taillights, and turn signals operate properly. It is also good to have important documents, like your driver’s license, vehicle registration, and proof of insurance, in an easily accessible place like the glove compartment or center console. However, do not reach for those documents until an officer asks explicitly for them. As you approach the checkpoint, remain calm and drive responsibly.

Comply With the Officer’s Instructions When Stopped

When officers signal you to stop at a DUI checkpoint, you should safely pull over. Once stopped, the initial interaction sets the tone. Try to have your driver’s side window down enough to talk with the officer but not fully open. Keep your two hands in view, preferably on the steering wheel. This helps make officers feel secure and safe.

The officer will likely say hello and explain why you are being stopped. They will usually ask for your driver's license, car registration, and proof of insurance. Do not try to give the officer these documents until they ask for them. Steer clear of making any hasty movements, and instead, calmly state what you are doing. For example, “I’m reaching into my glove compartment for my registration and insurance.”

Politeness and courtesy are essential. Use “Yes, officer” or “No, officer.” However, while saying this, you must not limit your conversation. The purpose of the stop is a brief screening. Be truthful but brief in answering any officer's questions. For example, if the officers ask where you are coming from, a simple reply like “From dinner” or “From my friend’s house” would suffice.

Crucially, avoid volunteering unnecessary information. Do not go into detail about your night, discuss personal things, or provide a reason unless specifically asked a question that requires it. Stick to the facts requested. Avoid the chatter. Talking too much can give away information that can extend your stop or heighten suspicion. Always keep it polite, brief, professional, and legal.

Know and Assert Your Rights

Knowing and asserting your constitutional rights at a DUI checkpoint is crucial. California law allows these checkpoints under specific conditions, but you still have rights during the encounter.

One of them is your Fifth Amendment right to remain silent. You can legally refuse to answer any questions that may incriminate you. You must obey legal orders, including when police ask for your driver’s license, registration, and insurance. Other than that, you can typically refuse to answer questions that could be problematic. You might hear questions like, “Have you had anything to drink tonight?” or "How much have you had to drink?”

If this happens, it is okay to decline to answer. You can inform the officers, “I am exercising my right to remain silent” or “I refuse to answer that question.” There is no need to argue or be difficult. Simply asserting that you are exercising your right is enough. However, you generally have to respond to basic identification questions, like confirming your name and address from your license.

You also have Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable searches and seizures. The stop at a checkpoint permits an officer to hold up a driver for a few moments to screen but does not automatically grant them the right to search you or your car. The officers usually need probable cause to conduct a lawful search without a warrant. Probable cause is an articulated fact or fact showing that you are involved in criminal activity. It has to go beyond being stopped at the checkpoint. Alternatively, the officers can ask for your consent to search.

Therefore, you can refuse consent for officers to search your person or vehicle. If asked by an officer, “Do you mind if I looked in your car?” An appropriate response is, “Officer, I do not consent to any searches.” Consent to any search waives your Fourth Amendment right for that instance. Police usually require a valid reason or permission to search your person or vehicle without consent. Understanding these rights gives you the power to navigate the checkpoint and helps protect yourself.

Submitting to a Sobriety Test

When a police officer notices something off about a driver at a DUI checkpoint stop, for example, watery eyes, slurred speech, or the smell of alcohol, they could ask the driver to exit the car to perform Field Sobriety Tests (FSTs).

The most common standardized FSTs (SFSTs) are the horizontal gaze nystagmus (HGN) test, the walk-and-turn test, and the one-leg stand test.

  • The officer watches your eyes in the HGN test for jerking eyes, that is, not moving smoothly when you follow a stimulus like a pen or light.

  • The walk-and-turn test requires walking along a line, turning the correct way, and walking back to the starting point, taking nine heel-to-toe steps each way.

  • In the one-leg stand test, the officer will ask you to stand on one foot with the other raised about six inches off the ground for 30 seconds.

These tests help the officers to establish probable cause for a DUI arrest. However, FSTs are inherently subjective. Many factors can affect performance that are not impairment-based. These include:

  • Nerves

  • Fatigue

  • Physical limitations, including age, injury, weight

  • Poor coordination

  • Footwear

  • Confusing instructions

Anyone can "fail" these tests, even someone completely sober, when put under the pressure of being roadside.

It is important to note that you do not have to submit to pre-arrest field sobriety tests in California. You are not legally required to take them. The officers' phrasing may suggest that you must participate, but their request is also optional.

In general, drivers should politely refuse to take the FSTs. If an officer observes poor performance, they may conclude that this justifies an arrest, which may later be used as evidence against you. However, refusing field sobriety tests (FSTs) will not mean you will not be arrested if the officer believes they have other grounds for probable cause. It will ensure you do not give the officer potentially inaccurate or subjective evidence against you through those tests.

Taking a Roadside Preliminary Alcohol Screening (PAS) Test

After the initial interaction, and possibly after they ask you to perform FSTs, an officer at the DUI checkpoint could ask you to take a PAS test. This refers to blowing into a small handheld breathalyzer at the roadside to get an initial estimate of your blood alcohol content (BAC).

If you are over the age of 21 and not currently on probation for a prior DUI, the PAS test is not mandatory. This roadside breath test is voluntary, meaning you do not have to take the test. You cannot be penalized for refusing it, unlike the refusal aspect of the Implied Consent law, which applies after an arrest. The police officers must tell you that the PAS test is voluntary for people in this category.

Generally, it is best to politely refuse the PAS test if you fall into this group, 21 years and over, or you are not on DUI probation. These handheld devices can malfunction or provide inaccurate readings due to calibration issues, environmental factors, or misuse. The officer can use the result to justify probable cause for your arrest.

However, there is an important exception. If you are under 21 or currently on probation because of a DUI, then the PAS test is not voluntary. With California's zero-tolerance laws for underage drivers, they are subject to the standard terms of DUI probation that require submission to chemical testing, including PAS. If you are under 21 or on DUI probation, refusing the PAS test will have penalties, including mandatory driver's license suspension or revocation.

It is important to know that the PAS test that takes place before an arrest differs from the chemical tests (breath or blood) taken legally after a DUI arrest. The chemical tests are covered under California’s implied consent law, and there are penalties when a driver refuses the tests.

The legal BAC limits are as follows:

  • Drivers 21 and over — It is against the law to operate a vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08% or greater. This is the standard per se limit.

  • Commercial drivers — It is against the law to drive with a BAC of 0.04% or higher while operating a commercial vehicle.

  • Drivers Under 21 — California has a zero-tolerance policy for drivers under 21. If a driver has a BAC of 0.01% or higher, their license can be suspended. If your blood alcohol concentration is 0.05% or higher, you will be guilty of an underage DUI.

  • Drivers on DUI Probation — Drivers on DUI probation usually have a limit of 0.01% BAC or higher. This applies to all drivers.

The result of the PAS test will help the officer determine if your BAC might be close to or over the legal limit. If the PAS test indicates a positive result, it is likely a reasonable cause for a DUI arrest or citation. After that arrest, drivers must take a more accurate, evidential (breath or blood) chemical test.

Submitting to Chemical Tests After an Arrest

If an officer has a reasonable belief you are driving under the influence and makes a lawful arrest at a DUI checkpoint or other traffic stop, you will then be required to take a chemical test to measure your blood alcohol content (BAC) or drugs in your system. This requirement is based on California’s Implied Consent law.

According to California Vehicle Code Section 23612, any person who drives a motor vehicle in the state shall be deemed to have given consent to chemical testing of his/her blood or breath or sometimes his/her urine, which is typically used to detect drugs when other information gives rise to suspicion of drug use if lawfully arrested for DUI. In effect, when you exercise the privilege of driving in California, you are consenting to this test in certain circumstances (post lawful DUI arrest).

Post-arrest breath or blood tests cannot be refused without punishment, unlike the voluntary pre-arrest field sobriety tests and the Preliminary Alcohol Screening test for most adults over 21. If you refuse to take a chemical test after being lawfully arrested for a DUI, you will face additional penalties even if you are acquitted of the DUI. If you refuse testing after a lawful DUI arrest, you will face extra penalties, regardless of whether you are convicted of the DUI itself. These penalties include at least a year’s suspension of your driver’s license for first refusals. Jail time could be added to any DUI sentence, and the refusal can be used against you in court as evidence of consciousness of guilt.

When you are arrested for DUI, generally, you must be given a choice of either a breath test or a blood test.

  • Breath testing — Usually administered at the police station with a larger, more sophisticated device than the roadside PAS. It measures the alcohol content in your breath.

  • Blood test — This is where a qualified technician takes your blood on the spot and sends it to the lab for testing. Some people consider blood tests more accurate because they can also detect drugs. Breath tests only detect alcohol. An added benefit is preserving a sample for retesting. However, substances can stay in the blood longer than in the breath.

However, there are certain circumstances when this choice may not be offered to you, namely:

  • Simple unavailability — For example, the breathalyzer at the police station may be out of order or unavailable, leaving blood as the only option. If you are in a remote area, qualified personnel to draw blood may not be reasonably available, leaving you with a breath test if the machine works.

  • You are suspected of drug impairment — If the officer arresting you has grounds to believe you could be under the influence of drugs, either alone or in combination with alcohol, they could require a blood test specifically because breath tests only measure alcohol, not drugs.

  • If you are rendered unconscious or otherwise physically incapacitated from consenting to or participating in a specific test — This could include being unable to blow hard enough for a breath test due to being injured. The law allows the officers to order a blood draw without giving you a choice.

Ideally, you would go over the advantages and disadvantages of each test with an attorney before making a choice. However, that is rarely the case. Things happen fast, and you will not usually get a chance to speak to a lawyer at that moment. Nonetheless, despite the exceptions or lack of legal guidance, remember that California’s Implied Consent law states you must submit to whatever chemical test the officer asks to avoid facing fines for refusing.

Being Arrested for Driving Under the Influence

It is important to stay calm and know what to do next if you are arrested for DUI at a checkpoint. You should physically cooperate with the officers making the arrest. You should not resist them when they handcuff or transport you to the station. Any physical resistance can lead to additional charges being added to your case, most commonly resisting arrest, a crime under Penal Code 148.

While cooperating physically, firmly reassert your legal rights, specifically:

  • Invoke your right to remain silent and your right to speak to an attorney

  • Do not answer any further questions about your activities, whether you were drinking or using drugs, or the incident itself

  • Avoid casual conversation

  • Do not sign any paperwork except potentially mandatory booking or chemical test paperwork without an attorney’s signoff

Moreover, take note of key details, including the officer’s name and badge number, the exact location and time of your arrest, any potential witnesses, and observations of checkpoint procedures. This information can be valuable for your defense.

Find a DUI Defense Attorney Near Me

Stay calm if you find yourself stopped at a California DUI checkpoint. Keep your hands visible on the wheel. Roll down your window a little bit. Provide your license, registration, and insurance when asked by the officer. Interact politely, but keep your answers brief and direct.

Crucially, know and assert your rights. It is your right to refuse to answer questions that might incriminate you. You may also politely decline the optional field sobriety tests and the roadside PAS breath test (but only if you are 21 or older and not on DUI probation). Act right, and you will likely just pass through. However, if police officers arrest you, exercise your right to remain silent and request to speak to an attorney. If you are in the Bakersfield area, contact the Koenig Law Office at 661-793-7222 for assistance with a DUI-related issue.