Photo copyright Alex Lloyd Gross DUI checkpoint
By Alex Lloyd Gross
It's the start of the holiday weekend. That means cookouts, games, and for some, drinking. For others, who had had a few to many, they get behind the wheel and drive. Bad idea.
According to Sgt. Albert Gramlich of the Philadelphia Police Department's Accident Investigation Division, people do not realize that "Even if they have had a few drinks, they are not prepared to drive, their reflexes are slower". So by 10:30 PM State Troopers and Philadelphia Police convered on Frankford Ave. near Academy and set up traffic cones to funnel traffic.
All vehicles approach and must come to a stop. They will interact with officers. "The officer is looking to see if the driver is impaired. Is there an odor of alcohol coming from the vehicle? Are there open containers? That's what we're looking for", Gramlich said.
So after setting up cones, lights and signs that clearly indicate a sobriety checkpoint, State Troopers worked the south bound lanes and Philadelphia Police worked the northbound lanes. Within 10 minutes a woman in her early 50;s drives way too fast south bound and almost hits two State Troopers. She is quickly removed from her vehicle.
Once a person is removed, they are given a battery of field sobriety tests. This includes a portable breath test. If they pass that, they are free to go. The woman passes, but barely. Her excuse was she thought it was an accident scene. She clearly was not familiar with the move over law. This requires motorists to move to an adjacent lane or reduce their speed when coming across highway responders. She could have been cited. She was read the riot act by State Troopers, including the Troopers she almost ran over. She was not intoxicated, just ignorant of the law.
Five minutes after that a white passenger sedan with three youths in it is driving north and almost takes out the traffic signage. The driver did not have his headlights on. He was also high on drugs. He failed the field sobriety test. He was arrested. The checkpoint was not even running for 30 minutes and one person almost hit a Trooper, another a sign. Next up was a 19 year old that had been drinking just a bit.
He was clearly not drunk. He blew a .02 and if he was an adult he would have been sent on his way. He got a ride in a police wagon to spend the holiday weekend behind bars. "Once someone is arrested here, they go through the system," Gramlich said. "He won't get out before Monday or maybe late Sunday . The booking process takes a while. We don't just give them a citation and send them on their way. Some suburaban jurisdictions may do that not but not here" Gramlich added.
Once a motorist is suspected of being impaired, if they can pass the field sobriety tests, they are free to go. If they failed that ,they are taken into the DUI Enforcement Van and administered a certified and calibrated breath test. If they pass that, they are free to go. If they fail that , they get arrested. "No one ever died taking these breath tests. but people try to get out of them saying they has asthma or can't breathe. The test requires a steady breath for a few seconds.
You can't fix stupid. A very famous comedian said that once. Watching the parade of stupid come through the check point after clearly passing signs that warned them of the sobriety check point is exactly what Sgt. Gramlich said would happen. "Their skills are slower, they cannot process information quickly". Some people will have the entire holiday weekend to get their thought process together.
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