As reported yesterday by Minnesota’s KEYC, our nation is in the middle of a period of enhanced highway danger. The Fourth of July holiday is the midpoint in the year’s “100 Deadliest Days,” the span of months from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day.
It’s also the time for an increased police presence on state roads, highways and interstates. The additional troopers will be patrolling Highways 60, 14 and 19 as part of the border-to-border law enforcement campaign that saturates officers on roads leading to South Dakota and Wisconsin.
Who will be targeted?
Law enforcement officers from state troopers to sheriff’s deputies and local municipalities are looking for drivers impaired by both drugs and alcohol. They also are focusing on speeders and other traffic scofflaws.
What you should know
If you plan to drink alcohol over the Fourth of July weekend, plan ahead for a sober ride home. Use public transit, arrange for an Uber or Lyft or ask your host to allow you to spend the night.
If you get stopped on suspicion of driving while intoxicated (DWI), the officer will likely ask you to perform some standard field sobriety tests. Because of the conditions under which the tests were conducted, the detained person’s medical condition and the subjective nature of interpretation, this rarely (if ever) works out in defendants’ favor.
There is no reason to gift the prosecutor any evidence against you. You are within your rights to refuse to provide a roadside breath sample or perform sobriety tests on-site. If you get arrested for DWI, knowing your rights against self-incrimination can lay the foundation of a potentially successful defense strategy.
