DUI Dodger iPhone App: Checkpoint Avoidance or Irresponsibility Advocate?
A dream app for those who like to go out, booze, and get in their car and drive home (not condoned by FOODBEAST). The DUI Dodger app, funded by Anaheim Hills, CA resident Geno Rose aims to inform users about DUI checkpoints in their area along with a host of other features including a Walk The Line function, which “test[s] your sobriety level” by asking you to walk in a straight line, arms extended (iPhone in hand) and then returns a grade based on your stability.
An article that highlights the app’s ability to raise eyebrows among senators was published by an OC Register reporter yesterday. The article cited and reevaluated obvious concerns some have with the availability of this app, which in theory allows drunk drivers to more efficiently evade sobriety checkpoints. Before we jump down the throat of app developers (DUI Dodger is not the first of its kind), let’s look at some features the $0.99 app provides, according to their App Store listing:
DUI Checkpoint Finder:
Locate DUI checkpoints within 50 miles of your current location. If you happen to see or hear about a checkpoint, you can add it to the map.
Blood Alcohol Content Calculator:
Calculate your blood alcohol content level based on your gender, amount of consumption, weight, and duration of drinking.
Walk the Line:
Test your sobriety level by walking in a straight line with your arms extended. Returns a grade based on your stability.
DUI Facts and Myths:
Common facts and myths about alcohol and driving drunk, like top cities with drunk drivers and facts for smokers.
The app allows users to report checkpoints, with an initial focus on the Southern California region, and is further bolster and maintained by Rose using information from sources he has in law enforcement to give the basis of the app’s information.
The larger question at hand is, should this information be readily available and as accurate as the DUI Dodger and similar apps are making it? Many think it’s not a problem, finding novelty and utility out of knowing exactly where sobriety checkpoints on nights they might have had one or two drinks and don’t want to risk a superfluous DUI charge.
On the other hand, are habitual drunk drivers now more apt to continue their craft, knowing where major sobriety checkpoints are and avoiding those streets, while further endangering themselves and others? The debate continues, with fair arguments on both sides. All the while, DUI Dodger’s website makes a rather obvious disclaimer on their site: DO NOT DRINK AND DRIVE.
But is their App’s mere existence an oxymoron to that disclaimer?
