TexasCHLforum.com

koolaid wrote:I think they should just go ahead and preemptively get their revenue from drinkers...

They already do.

It's the alchoholic beverage tax.
The more you drink, the more you pay,

srothstein wrote: ...But now, I have to ask if they really are as effective as people claim. Where is the proof of this? Are there any studies testing this theory to show that it is effective at reducing the amount of DWI? Not only do we want to see the DWI arrest rate increase, but we need to see an actual decrease in DWI on the road. From Pappagun's observation, there is an increase in arrests, that is then followed by a decrease in arrests. Is the decrease due to a deterrent effect where there are fewer drunks on the road? Or is it due to the drunks getting to know the program and finding other roads to go home on?

All good questions Steve.
DWI is one of the most studied issues as huge amounts of money are spent on prevention.

Here is one link with some information on one of your questions:
http://www.aaaduijusticelink.com/issues ... heckpoints" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

and a quote from the webpage:

"A systematic review of 15 studies conducted for The Community Guide to Preventive Services concluded that strong evidence exists for the effectiveness of sobriety checkpoints in decreasing the incidence of DUI (CDC, 2002). These checkpoints were found to decrease fatal crashes between 20% and 26%, and property damage collisions by an average of 24% (Elder et al, 2002). While sobriety checkpoints have been shown as effective, one study found that only 38% of drivers with a BAC of 0.08 or above were detected during a routine sobriety checkpoint (Wells, 1997), indicating the challenges law enforcement have in consistently detecting hardcore and other drunk drivers."

Here is another link to a DOT web page with statistics. Go to the bottom of the page to the state by state stats.
Texas is one of the few states with a 40% or higher alchohol impaired cause of vehicle fatalities.

http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811363.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I used to be uncomfortable with checkpoints and to some degree I still am. My current thoughts are that they are one tool in the tool box that can be used effectively or abused. As long as management controls the program effectively, I am for them.

Anecdotally, I have a friend with a brother who is an alchoholic. After being arrested for his fourth DWI and all at check points, he now takes a cab when he drinks. His behavior has been modified before he killed some body. He drove drunk thousands of times and was only caught 4 times. Sadly, some people never learn, so there are limits to everything.

I have not read all the posts in this thread.
Sorry if some or all of this has already been said.

Texas is light years behind by not having DWI check points.
Yes it's inconvenient, but it is a huge deterent.
There's even an App for that. (Posting locations)

If you have lived in just about any other state, you have experienced them.
You get through them pretty quickly as they are at times of the night (usually) and areas of town when traffic is light but the concentration of intoxicated drivers is higher.

As time passes, the number of drivers caught tends to decrease, many times zero, as they begin to be taken seriously.

The last state I lived in was infamous for its DWI problem and did not really get a handle on it until they began a serious anti-DWI campaign of which one part was DWI check points. Texas' problem is just as severe.

Having said all this, I lived there for 30 years and NEVER hit one as I tend not to be out at the wee hours or in those parts of town.

One alternative, practiced in Washington state is the rolling road block. Checkpoints were illegal according to some friends
who live there. So what they do is line up police cars side by side, say three wide on a three lane road and come slowly to a stop. Then they get out and check the cars behind them. This was determind to be non-discriminitory unlike their check points.

This is a whole lot more inconvenient than a check point, but a solution thrust upon residents of WA because of the resistance over checkpoints. Be careful what you wish for kind of thing.

I know this drifts from the OP's question. Just wanted to add my two cents to an already drifting thread.