Checkstop Warnings

[schteve_d]

I'm admittedly arguing with myself over how I feel about this. Drinking and driving kills, there's no argument there and I'm in no means supporting the guy.

Speed kills. It's proven. The radio stations across the country have broadcast the location of speed traps for years and nobody thinks much of it.

I don't know. I'm definitely against what the guy is doing but I suppose I'd be bothered by the ramifications if what he was doing was illegal.

Odd one!

[Yasa]

It's well within his legal right to do it. I don't agree with it or endorse it, but unfortunately freedom of speech has its upsides and downsides.

[DropIt]

Originally Posted by evman150

Anyone else never heard the term checkstop before?

As for the tweets - pretty scummy, but how much different is it from radar detectors?

Radar detectors may catch a few people doing 10 over the speed limit, warning someone about a speed detector may help them avoid a 150 dollar ticket.

Warning someone about a checkstop gives them the option to take an alternate route home while driving intoxicated, increasing the chances that they get in a collision and kill someone.

There is a huge difference between the two

[wireframe]

Originally Posted by HotHotHeat

I understand the opposition, but if I had two drinks and need to get home, I'm going to avoid checkstops - not because I'm drunk, but because I don't need a cop breathing down my neck about whether I'm able to.

This is a very smart post. It has changed my opinion on checkstop warnings. I have gone from strictly against to undecided.

[TSXCman]

thanks for the location of the service for the future.

i find that i can only get some sort of trouble from cops and never any help, so if i am a couple (1, 2, 3) drinks deep then i will absolutely refer to these great links.

i will be safe, you guys can contol your own safety/responsibility, and the high horse/cop calling guys over some links can calm it down

[Chingas]

Its pretty common practice to flash your head lights to on-coming traffic when you pass a cop on the side of the road, and I don't see anything wrong with it. Does speed kill? well possibly, but it doesn't make people criminals when they offer a warning to their fellow motorists.

Twitter has opened peoples tattle tailing levels to an all new high. Red Mile pretty sure thats the second time this week that you have quoted a twitter of your own, showcasing you telling the world what they should do. Good job, if we ever meet I'll pat you on the back.

When we were growing up it was pretty common to be sitting at the bar and have check stop updates shared accross the bar as people were coming in, or phone our friends if we discovered one on the way home. This info would more than likely discourage people form driving rather than have them choose alternate routes. Knowing the cops are out looking in full force would make you second guess whether you should have that one more beer.

Drinking and driving is wrong and i do not condone it, however sharing info with friends isn't wrong either. Everyone here that is saying i would never inform people of a checkstop are full of it, you would most undoubtably call your friend if they were coming behind you and they had, had a couple. If they had more than a couple then you would have likely forced them to take a taxi, checkstop info or not.

[T@T]

Originally Posted by DropIt

Warning someone about a checkstop gives them the option to take an alternate route home while driving intoxicated, increasing the chances that they get in a collision and kill someone.

I wish I was warned last Thursday, I probably wouldn't have missed the first 1/2 hour of "The girl with the dragon Tattoo" because of being held up by 20 cops and a freaken bus in the middle of the road.

Constable: Hey did you hear Canada lost and the Flames got smoked tonight?

Captain: Oh really? Get the bus out, perfect time to get some drunks!

[Nage Waza]

What if we flood him with false reports?

[MrMastodonFarm]

The guy is a bit of a dolt, begging people to get to the lofty number of... 100 followers.

all my followers tell your friend to follow me. Lets keep the movement going lets push my voice to 100 followers lets be heard!!!

[Hockeyguy15]

Because I'm sure the guy who is wasted is going to be able to get twitter updates on his phone about checkstop locations. They can barely drive, do you think they will hear/feel their phone vibrate?

Honestly I think this is a non-issue. The chances of someone who is over .08 and already driving, headed in the direction of the broadcasted checkstop are probably pretty low. Probably around the same amount of people who are over .08 and thinking of driving in that direction but changed their mind after getting updated about the checkstop.

Plus if someone was smart enough to drive wasted in the first place they obviously think they are sober enough to drive and might not even worry about the checkstop. In their mind they are sober and won't blow over.

[ken0042]

For me the speeding comparison isn't a good one. Setting aside the dangers for a moment; the difference is the law. Speeding is a Highway Traffic offense and the penalty is a fine. Impaired Driving is a criminal code offense; and if found guilty you end up with a criminal record.

So warning somebody of a speed trap isn't the same. Plus the reason for speed traps is to get people to stop speeding through an area. This is different than a Checkstop; in that a speeder can instantly become a non-speeder. An impaired driver cannot instantly sober up.

[freedogger]

This will issue will be a mute point if the new laws pass. They won't need a proper lab on the side of the road with trained experts. A beer or three a cop with an opinion and you and me with big fines to pay on any given traffic stop anywhere in the province. Fines will be large but with no criminal charge, who is going to fight them?

[Aleks]

Originally Posted by HotHotHeat

I understand the opposition, but if I had two drinks and need to get home, I'm going to avoid checkstops - not because I'm drunk, but because I don't need a cop breathing down my neck about whether I'm able to.

Agreed. I'm against drunk driving like anyone (I have a lot of experience with the dangers of drunk drivers courtesy of my job), but I'm also vehemently against unwarranted search and seizure. Check stops really toe the line of rights


Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

[Resolute 14]

There is another reason why warnings about speeding is not an accurate comparable: If you are warned about a speed trap on Glenmore, for instance, you will do one of two things: You will either be stupid, speed anyway and still get fined, or you will slow down on that stretch of road. Given the entire point is to slow people down toward the limit, the traps are actually more effective if people know they are there.

Checkstops become less effective if their location is known. I agree that people should not tweet the location of checkstops, but I also agree that you can't reasonably restrict the practice. One thing that might help is if the police invested in a second checkstop unit. Dodging one is easy, dodging two becomes more difficult.

[freedogger]

Originally Posted by ken0042

the difference is the law. Speeding is a Highway Traffic offense and the penalty is a fine. Impaired Driving is a criminal code offense; and if found guilty you end up with a criminal record.

Not with the new law being considered. It will classify certain levels of intoxication as non-criminal with hefty fines. This is exactly the way speeding is handled. 60 km over speed limit gets you an automatic criminal dangerous driving charge.

With the new laws, people will make the same argument you just did about drunk driving. "I'm not a criminal, I was only fined for being a little to close to the real line." When in reality, the driver could easily have been over the limit, but they will less frequently be rigorously tested like they are now because of the high costs to do this.

[RedMileDJ]

Originally Posted by Chingas

Red Mile pretty sure thats the second time this week that you have quoted a twitter of your own, showcasing you telling the world what they should do. Good job, if we ever meet I'll pat you on the back.

You must be referring to the "Bourque discipline" thread. I didn't "tell the world what do do", but rather shared a tweet that I sent to Rene. So maybe get your facts straight.

As I have shared many times on CP, I have lost A LOT of family and friends to drunk drivers. A LOT. So when I see people "assisting" drunks in avoiding getting caught, it boils my blood.

There was a terrible "suspected" drunk driving accident this past weekend. What if...WHAT IF that driver was told about, or read, a tweet warning of a check-stop in the direction they were going to go originally? Hmmm? Then they decide to go down Shaganappi Trail instead...BOOM! Two people dead.

I know there is probably nothing I can do about the tweets that go out warning of check-stops, but I can still be upset about it.

The purpose of me "showcasing" my tweets to the Calgary Police and the responses I got was to show exactly what my experience was.

I'm all for freedom of speech and all. Hell...I use twitter, so I must be, right? But there is something seriously MORALLY wrong with giving out this kind of information. Helping drunks get around check-stops. If you can't see that...then I don't know.

[Jason14h]

A lot of people will choose to get a cab after 3-4 beers if they know there is a checkstop nearby as opposed to driving home as well....

Not everyone can/will just "take another route"

[puckluck]

Warning drunk drivers of checkstops? Do you really want a drunk on the same road as you? Your family? The people you love?

[moon]

Originally Posted by puckluck

What a ######ed thread. Warning drunk drivers of checkstops? Do you really want a drunk on the same road as you? Your family? The people you love? The OP should be ashamed.

Did you actually read the OP?

[Northendzone]

i guess if the original tweeter is open to meeting the family of a victim of a drunk driver and explaining why he was tweeting the location of a checkstop then it is all good....