Followup on early morning Delridge crash

Here’s the scoop from police: They answered a disturbance call around 5:40 in the 6900 block of Delridge. Arriving, they saw a white Volvo fleeing southbound – shortly afterward it hit a tree and wound up in the middle of the road. The driver was arrested on suspicion of DUI and taken to the hospital. The road was closed for a while to all but buses. 12:40 PM UPDATE: Police have posted more details on SPD Blotter (their updates for major Southwest Precinct activity go onto the WSB Crime Watch page instantly via automated updates, so you may have seen it on that page already).

Aim November 26, 2008 (10:58 am)

That stretch of Delridge is particularly bad for drunk drivers. From approximately the library to approximately Home Depot, cars and property are smashed up every weekend, and sometimes on weekdays as well. I follow drunks home from work many many evenings, and follow them in to work many early mornings.

It would be a jackpot for the DUI patrol to set up a checkpoint somewhere along there, or to have an unmarked car park and watch for a few hours after the bars close. They’d probably make numerous arrests each night. Are checkpoints legal here?

B November 26, 2008 (12:49 pm)

I’ve heard that checkpoints are NOT legal in Washington. Something to do with a violation of civil liberties?!?

Personally that’s one law I wouldn’t mind having changed. If you are not breaking the law then you have nothing to worry about.

Aim November 26, 2008 (1:57 pm)

Yeah it’s a slippery slope for sure, but it can be done in such a way as to catch the drunks and not inconveniencing other people much more than traffic does. It’s fairly common in BC, or at least it was when I was a kid.

Sorry, comment time is over.