Court Opinion

ID: 9675517
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 04:56:02.881353+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:16:35.040189
License: Public Domain

COFFEY, J.
(concurring). I agree with the opinion of the court, but add these words because the record in this case shows that the arresting officer, with probable cause to believe that the defendant was drunk, required him to walk a straight line at the edge of a heavily traveled interstate highway. Drunk driving is a serious offense, and a problem of great concern in our society, but an individual whose faculties have been dulled by drinking should not be expected to run or even walk a gauntlet of high speed auto and truck traffic.
For safety reasons, our statutes prohibit pedestrians from using expressways or freeways, and require them to walk on the left side of other highways. Secs. 346.16 (2) and 346.28, Stats. A police officer who directs someone to violate these statutes in the dark, in order to give a sobriety test, is not only subjecting the person so directed to an unreasonable risk of harm. He is also subjecting himself, and possibly the municipality, to a lawsuit if harm occurs.
I suspect the arresting officer thought he was proceeding in a manner consistent with the authorization of sec. 343.305(2) (a), Stats., to request a preliminary breath test at the scene prior to issuance of a citation. I do not so read the statute, and in fact believe it to be of little value in law enforcement. The request cannot *457be made unless the officer has probable cause to believe that the driver is under the influence, of an intoxicant or a controlled substance. If the officer has probable cause to so believe, he ought to issue a citation and take the driver to a station house without delay, for the protection of other drivers on the road, as well as for that of the accused. The legislature should consider redrafting this statute so as to eliminate, as this case demonstrates, the dangerous option of requesting a roadside test, not only to the officer, but to the defendant as well.