Typically, if the police are going to use a DUI checkpoint, they must inform the public about when and where it will be established. Many drivers may still have no idea that the checkpoint exists, but public notification is required. This means that drivers who are aware of it can choose to avoid the area if they do not want to drive through the checkpoint.
But what if you do not know the checkpoint exists until you come upon it during your drive? Are you still allowed to avoid it? If you see the checkpoint ahead, can you simply take the next turn and go down a different road so that you do not have to go through it? Or will the police assume that you are intoxicated because you are trying to avoid the checkpoint?
Legal driving maneuvers
Technically, yes—it is completely legal for you to avoid a DUI checkpoint. You are not required to drive through it. You can make the next legal turn and take a side street instead. The police cannot arrest you simply for avoiding the checkpoint, and they cannot force you to drive through it.
That said, you must make only legal driving maneuvers. For example, some drivers have been pulled over for making an illegal U-turn after seeing a checkpoint. Since the U-turn itself violates traffic laws, it gives the police the right to make a traffic stop—and it may also increase their suspicion that the driver is impaired.
If you simply use your turn signal and make a legal right turn onto another street, however, there should be no issue.
DUI charges
If you do find yourself facing DUI charges after a traffic stop or an encounter at a checkpoint, make sure you understand all of your legal defense options moving forward.