MANCHESTER, NH – As a result of increasing incidents of drinking and driving, the Manchester Police Department applied for, and was granted, a Superior Court Petition to conduct a Sobriety Checkpoint. The “Sobriety Checkpoint” is considered an effective method of detecting and apprehending the impaired operator.
The program, approved by the NH Highway Safety Agency and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, provides federal highway safety funds to support these checkpoints, one of which will be conducted in Manchester on Thursday Sept. 8 into Sept. 9.
A review of records has shown that the use of alcohol by individuals who operate motor vehicles has resulted in a number of deaths and personal injury accidents. Therefore, in an effort to maintain safe roads in Manchester, the Manchester Police Department will be conducting a Sobriety Checkpoint in the Manchester area on Thursday, September 8, 2016 and Friday, September 9, 2016.
New Hampshire is one of 38 states where sobriety checkpoints are legal, but here they must be approved by a court judge, as per a 1997 statute, RSA 265:1-a, which reads:
Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, no law enforcement officer or agency shall establish or conduct sobriety checkpoints for the purposes of enforcing the criminal laws of this state, unless such law enforcement officer or agency petitions the superior court and the court issues an order authorizing the sobriety checkpoint after determining that the sobriety checkpoint is warranted and the proposed method of stopping vehicles satisfies constitutional guarantees.
The purpose of the Sobriety Checkpoint is to detect and apprehend the impaired driver. Manchester Police Chief Willard has taken an aggressive stance to prevent persons from driving when intoxicated. New Hampshire has some of the most aggressive laws in the country to fight the intoxicated driver and the law enforcement community will use those tools to their full extent.
