Opinion ID: 2604190
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Maintenance of Safety Conditions

Text: Primary consideration must be given to maintaining safety for motorists and officers. Proper lighting, warning signs and signals, and clearly identifiable official vehicles and personnel are necessary to minimize the risk of danger to motorists and police. (Cf. Jones v. State (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1984) 459 So.2d 1068, 1079.) The checkpoint should be operated only when traffic volume allows the operation to be conducted safely. Screening procedures may at times be altered consistent with traffic volume, such that, for example, every car might be stopped when traffic is light, but if traffic began to back up, a different neutral formula might be applied, such as every fifth or tenth car, or operations might be temporarily suspended until traffic volume permitted resumption of safe checkpoint operation. The Burlingame and CHP checkpoints were operated with a very high degree of safety assurance. The sites of the checkpoint operations were carefully selected with safety considerations in mind, including ample offroad or shoulder area for screening or field sobriety test procedures. The lane closures and road signs complied with all Caltrans safety guidelines. During operations, designated officers were responsible for maintaining the safety of the traffic lanes and cone patterns. There were no safety problems with respect to traffic backups.