What Should You Do When Stopped At A DUI Checkpoint In Illinois?
By Dan Noll on February 12th, 2014 in Criminal Defense Lawyer, DUI Attorney, Springfield IL Defense Attorney
Dan Stratford: The article describes the Fatal Four moving violations. That’s speeding, DUI, seat belts and distracted driving. If a driver is stopped at one of these safety checks for one of these reasons, what should they do? I know on the one hand you said “Be quiet. Don’t say too much. Call an attorney.” I would like to hear your opinion on that and then more specifically, can I be forced to take a breathalyzer or forced to do a sobriety check?
Dan Noll: The four citations that you had mentioned, seat belt and speeding, they are normally catching people on the road for those. If they are doing a safety check or a checkpoint, people are going to be stopped, so they are not going to get people for speeding. They will check on your seatbelt, insurance, driver’s license those types of things. DUI itself again they are hammering home on these petty offenses. Seat belts, speeding those types of things in an attempt to try to land more DUI arrests.
A person cannot be compelled to incriminate themselves, so that means you don’t have to submit to field sobriety tests. You do not have to consent to a breathalyzer. If they have a valid warrant, you have to abide by that warrant. By no means am I advocating people need to be jerks to cops or anything like that. You can be professional, courteous and still protect your rights but the best thing to do is always contact an attorney, that understand your rights. It is very important to understand what you are allowed to do and what you are allowed not to do. Do some research for yourself and it can save you a lot of headaches later on down the road.