When DUI checkpoints first started, it was a way for law enforcement officials to catch unsuspecting drunk drivers.  Part of the reason these checkpoints were so effective, and have continued to be effective, is that they catch drunk drivers off-guard.  Once a driver pulls into a checkpoint there is no way of getting around it.  The only way to pass through a checkpoint is to actually go through it.

Newspapers, TV news anchors, and other news outlets sometimes report when a DUI checkpoint is scheduled, but now people are taking matters into their own hands. Users of Twitter, the popular social networking/micro blogging site, are sending tweets altering people to the whereabouts of DUI checkpoints. When a person posts a tweet, it reaches his/her “Twitter friends” instantaneously, and many people have twitter updates sent directly to their cell phones in the form of a text message. Should a tweet come through about a DUI checkpoint, people can easily drive in the other direction if they’ve had too much to drink.

It seems as though police aren’t really angry about the warnings, but rather are concerned that drunk drivers who should be caught and arrested are still on the road,  risking the lives and safety of those around them.  Police officers are also concerned about people looking at their cell phones while driving, which has proven to increase a person’s chances of getting involved in an accident.