William C. Head, P.C.
Atlanta DUI Law Firm
Georgia DUI Checkpoint Refusal Tips: Your Legal Rights
By: William C. Head, DUI Lawyer Atlanta with 47+ Years of DUI Defense Experience
Every year, thousands of Georgia drivers find themselves unexpectedly approaching a DUI checkpoint, headlights reflecting off the “Sobriety Checkpoint Ahead” sign. You may feel nervous and unsure of what to do. Maybe you’re driving home from a downtown Atlanta bar, leaving a Bulldogs football game in Athens, or heading back from River Street in Savannah.
What do you do? Can you refuse to go through the DUI checkpoint? If you can’t turn around, do you have to answer the officer’s questions? Are you required to take field sobriety tests?
Before you panic, know your rights–in Georgia, you can refuse to go through a checkpoint under certain conditions. If you do decide to proceed, what do you do?
In this guide, top Atlanta DUI attorney Bubba Head answers your most pressing questions about DUI checkpoints and provides step-by-step guidance on how to protect yourself before, during, and after a DUI stop.
You’ll learn the best ways to legally refuse a DUI checkpoint, how to assert your right to remain silent and avoid self-incrimination, and what to do if you’re arrested for drunk driving at a police checkpoint.
Before the DUI Checkpoint- Know Your Rights & Plan Ahead
Where Are DUI Checkpoints in Georgia Announced?
Under Georgia law, police must post DUI checkpoints ahead of time, but these announcements can be hard to find. Some ways to find DUI checkpoints are through local news websites, the radio, and newspapers, as well as police department social media pages.
How can I find DUI checkpoint locations in real time?
If you’re looking for an app to find these checkpoints, the Waze App is the most reliable app for finding DUI roadblocks as it provides real-time updates from drivers ahead of you. The “police alerts” section is particularly useful. Here is how to activate that feature:
Even though the Waze app does a good job of notifying you of where these DUI stops are, it isn’t 100% reliable–especially late-at-night when there are less motorists on the road to put these ‘police ahead’ alerts into the app.
If you want to know more about where DUI checkpoints are (and how to avoid them), read our page about finding DUI checkpoints near me.
Can You Refuse a DUI Checkpoint in Georgia?
Under Georgia law, you can refuse to go through these DUI stops, but you have to do so without violating traffic laws.
However, police often station a ‘chase’ car to go after any vehicle that tries to abruptly turn around or make an illegal maneuver. If you make a sudden U-turn, fail to signal, or drive erratically, officers can pull you over on the basis of a traffic violation. Use your turn signals, move slowly and deliberately, and follow all posted traffic signs.
But, you are well within your Fourth Amendment rights to avoid this sobriety checkpoint, as police can’t simply pull you over on a hunch that you refused to stay in line due to your intoxication levels. This is supported by Michigan v. Sitz, 496 U.S. 444 (1990), where the Supreme Court upheld checkpoint constitutionality but required stops to be non-arbitrary.
At the DUI Checkpoint – What Are Your Rights?
Do I Have to Answer Questions at a DUI Checkpoint?
No. Remain silent. You are only required to give your name and address—nothing more.
Paragraph XVI of the Georgia Constitution guarantees your right to remain silent and avoid self-incrimination. Never admit to trying to evade the checkpoint.
Can Police Make Me Get Out of My Car?
This is the first step to proving “seizure” and the officer’s exercise of dominion over you. This implicates both the federal 4th Amendment but also the Georgia Constitution (Paragraph XIII.)
If your phone camera is recording, it will capture your conversation, and the officer’s tone of voice, to help your DUI lawyer win your suppression motion in the criminal case, at a later date.
Can I Refuse a Field Sobriety Test?
In Georgia, you don’t have to take any of the field sobriety tests. They are 100% voluntary. Never agree to let an officer “check your eyes” or get you to participate in ANY sort of evaluations.
The Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFSTs)—the Walk-and-Turn, One-Leg-Stand, and the HGN Test (DUI Eye Test)—are based on bogus science and designed for you to fail. Your ‘performance’ can be used as evidence against you.
The police must follow strict instructions when they administer these exams, but most fail to do so.
Don’t expose yourself to these tests!
Can You Refuse a Breathalyzer?
Yes, you can refuse a breathalyzer test in Georgia, but there are consequences to doing so.
Under the Georgia Implied Consent Law, (O.C.G.A. § 40-5-67.1a), a DUI refusal (of the post-arrest BAC test) can suspend your license for a full year.
Since 2006, an officer can seek a forcible blood draw warrant and obtain your blood test even if you refuse.
If you take a breathalyzer test, you have the RIGHT to request an independent blood, breath, or urine test at your own expense. Your attorney can then use this second test as evidence to fight for your innocence.
How An Experienced Georgia DUI Attorney Can Defend Your Checkpoint Stop
So, now you’re booked into the county jail and think your life is over because you were arrested for driving under the influence.
But, now’s the time to fight. You need an expert lawyer who knows how to defend against these stops. Some defenses which may be applicable to your DUI checkpoint case include:
- The police didn’t have ‘reasonable suspicion’ to suspect intoxication, and therefore, apprehend you at the DUI checkpoint.
- The chosen checkpoint location posed a hazard for drivers-whether it was set up at an unsafe location or whether their was no way for the checkpoint to be avoided.
- There was no reasonable notice of the checkpoint- In Georgia, all DUI checkpoints must be pre-planned by a supervisory officer and reasonable notice must be posted, this can be through the local media, through social media, or other media.
Luckily, our law firm has ex-Roswell and Cobb County police officer Cory Yager on staff. If anyone knows how the police operate, It’s him.
DUI Checkpoint Case Win: How We Fought & Won
Fighting a DUI Checkpoint Arrest – 10 Years, 3,971 Days, Case Dismissed
A Gwinnett County driver was stopped at a DUI checkpoint and charged with DUI and refusing a breath test. Our legal team challenged the validity of the checkpoint, arguing that police failed to follow proper procedures, making the stop unconstitutional.
Defense Strategy:
- Argued the checkpoint was not properly supervised.
- Fought the case for over 10 years and won suppression of key evidence.
Result: Case dismissed after 3,971 days of litigation.
Call the Best Georgia DUI Lawyers Immediately Following Your DUI Arrest
Drunk driving book author William C. “Bubba” Head, Atlanta DUI lawyer and Board-Certified drunk driving defense expert attorney, has practiced DUI law for 47 years. No one in America is better known for fighting DUI cases. Allow Mr. Head or his law partners (Cory Yager, and ex-cop or Larry Kohn, who has been with Mr. Head since law school over 20 years ago) at our Atlanta law office. We are specialists, can assist you on a DUI first offense, or even a 2nd DUI in GA.
If you need 24-hour lawyers, call us now for immediate legal help. Call our DUI law firm at (404) 567-5515 or fill out our no-obligation, confidential online case evalutation form. If winning is your objective, call our Georgia DUI defense law firm today.
Related Articles on DUI Checkpoints:
Finding DUI Checkpoints Near Me Tonight
Beating BAC Tests and Field Sobriety Tests:
How to Beat a Breathalyzer Test in Georgia
How to Challenge Field Sobriety Tests in Court
DUI Defense:
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