As state legislators prepare to pass tougher laws on drunk driving in their fall session, there’s apparently one controversy they’ll steer away from.
That would be legalizing sobriety checkpoints, where cops pull over drivers at random to see if they’ve been drinking. Governor Doyle and a coalition fighting OWI are pushing for the change in law.
However, state Representative Kelda Helen Roys appears to be among many in the Legislature who are reluctant to pursue the issue. She says there needs to be more evidence that they are effective, and that the high cost of conducting them is worthwhile.
Roys says there’s also the issue of intruding on individual liberties and the fact that checkpoints could violate a driver’s Fourth Amendment rights.
Wisconsin is one of only about a dozen states that don’t allow the random OWI checks.