People across Tennessee will be celebrating the holidays in the upcoming weeks. With all of the family get-togethers and big meals, there will certainly be plenty of alcohol flowing. One of the downsides of all of the celebrating that comes with the holiday season is how much the risk for drunk driving crashes increases.
There is clear statistical evidence that shows an increase in drunk driving and crashes around the holidays, so law enforcement officials step up their enforcement accordingly. In Tennessee, you could very well find yourself stuck at a sobriety checkpoint, also called a drunk driving roadblock, due to holiday enforcement efforts.
Tennessee conducts sobriety checkpoints monthly
Sobriety checkpoints are a common law enforcement tool to allows initial checks for possible drunk drivers in well-traveled areas. Although they will slow the flow of traffic, officers can screen hundreds of people in a night, possibly preventing a crash or at least reminding drivers of the potential risk they take if they get behind the wheel after drinking.
Officers often see what they want to when targeting specific crimes
Maybe you have an anxiety condition that makes you stutter when you get nervous, or perhaps you have diabetes or have followed a keto diet to stave off holiday weight gain. There could be many reasonable explanations for why someone speaks strangely to police or fails a roadside sobriety test or chemical breath test.
Unfortunately, officers at a sobriety checkpoint are unlikely to listen to alternate explanations during a stop, regardless of how reasonable the explanation is. If you’re arrested, it’s wise to talk to a lawyer who may be able to build a defense based on the information that officers didn’t pay attention to during the traffic stop. The sooner you start that legal conversation, the more time your attorney will have to work on your defense before you go to court.