There should be a drunk driving checkpoint that every driver has to pass through leaving Washington Ave, Locust Street, the Landing, Euclid in the CWE, Soulard and the Delmar Loop as well as hotspots on the South and North Sides. Drunk driving is not taken serious and it should be. If you are drunk then catch a taxi, bus or the Metrolink and if you can’t do that stay at home or don’t drink. If the police will not enforce this then they should be held liable.

Like so many seemingly good ideas, Umart's would be unconstitutional. Dragnets like these are regarded as unreasonable searches/seizures under the 4th Amendment. Individual rights take precedence over efficient law enforcement (unless the Patriot Act applies).

I dont see how they would be unlawful when you have drunk driving accidents on a regular basis in these areas and where you can see that people are walking drunk towards their cars and often driving the wrong way down one way steets. People dont take drunk driving serious and why is that? Because rich white people also drive drunk. Please, placing the Patriot Act in the same sentence to this makes no sense.

Dave's accurate statement not withstanding, people do take drunk driving seriously. Organizations like MADD have brought great awareness to the topic and drunk driving deaths have gone down substantially in the past 20-30 years.

One drunk driving death is too many, but impeding the movement of all of the citizens to catch the very few, percentagewise, who drive drunk does not seem to be the right way to go.

Don't take it personally, Umar. I agree that greater effort needs to be made to deter and catch drunk drivers, regardless of demographic characteristics.

Distinctions make a difference. Setting up "drunk driving checkpoint[s] that every driver has to pass through leaving Washington Ave, Locust Street, the Landing, Euclid in the CWE, Soulard and the Delmar Loop as well as hotspots on the South and North Sides" are probably unconstitutional dragnets. On the other hand, your revised suggestion of (apparently) having cops stationed "where you can see that people are walking drunk towards their cars and often driving the wrong way down one way st[r]eets" is different. Police have the right to stop people whenever they witness the person committing a crime or have "probable cause" for such a belief. Dragnets are unconstitutional because they stop people without regard for "probable cause."

My statement "Individual rights take precedence over efficient law enforcement (unless the Patriot Act applies)" was a general observation, with a little dig at the Patriot Act. I believe you agree with both my observation and the dig. I did not mean to imply that the Patriot Act applied to drunk driving.

Yes I do agree with that general observation Oracle.

On Labor Day, July 4th etc., the County Police and the MO Highway Patrol have frequently set up sobriety checkpoints out in the 'burbs. And it's perfectly legal.

Per NHTSA:

"The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of sobriety checkpoints in 1990. If conducted properly, sobriety checkpoints do not constitute illegal search and seizure in most states. The U.S. Supreme Court decision held that the interest in reducing alcohol-impaired driving was sufficient to justify the brief intrusion of a properly conducted sobriety checkpoint."

The thing is - the StLMPD does things differently from most small suburban PDs. They have a separate Traffic Division that operates citywide and is relatively understaffed. Most of the 9 regular districts have plenty of "real" crime to respond to - they don't deal with traffic issues. At least, that's my general impression.

How many of these teenage vehicle related deaths are alcohol related versus other causes? Only focusing on drunk driving ignores another factor, inexperience combined with a sense of invulnerability. Both types of accidents can be reduced, yet so often society only seems to discuss alcohol related deaths. Heaven forbid we place restrictions on a "right" of passage.

Just eliminate all automobiles & small buildings to save lives. Then build only 100-story live/work/play (multi-use) Towers connected to Trains worldwide. That would also save the lives of animals, trees, oceans, rivers, children, & all humans, & it will eliminate all the work which is slavery anyway. It's impossible to "make automobiles safer" so just eliminate all of them.