DUI Checkpoints and Holiday Enforcement in the Lehigh Valley: What Police May Do, What You Must Do, and What Happens Next

Scope. This guide is for drivers in Easton, Northampton County, Lehigh County and the rest of the Lehigh Valley. It explains:

• when a sobriety checkpoint is lawful in Pennsylvania;
• what you must provide, and what you can decline, at a checkpoint;
• how holiday DUI enforcement usually runs from Thanksgiving through New Year's Day;
• what to do in the first two weeks after a DUI arrest.

It is general information, not legal advice about a particular stop. Official sources were checked on October 3, 2026.

The short version

• Checkpoints are legal when police follow the rules. Pennsylvania courts uphold sobriety checkpoints that substantially follow five safeguards: advance approval, a place and time chosen from local experience, a neutral rule for which cars to stop, adequate warning, and a brief stop without a search.
• You must stop and show your documents. When asked, promptly show your driver's license and registration card, and have your insurance card ready. If the officer asks, write your name to confirm your identity.
• You do not have to answer questions about drinking. You can politely decline to say where you have been or what you drank, and you can say that you do not consent to a search. Do not lie, argue or resist.
• Roadside tests are different from the test after arrest. Declining field sobriety tests or a roadside preliminary breath test does not trigger the implied-consent license suspension. It does not prevent an arrest, and a refusal of field sobriety tests may still be offered as evidence. Refusing the breath or blood test after an arrest has separate, serious consequences.
• Turning away is not a safe harbor. A lawful turn before a checkpoint is not, by itself, grounds for a stop. But police may post a car to watch for drivers who turn away, and any traffic violation gives them a reason to stop you.
• Expect more enforcement from mid-November through New Year's Day. Pennsylvania's 2025 holiday impaired-driving campaign ran from November 19 through January 1. NHTSA's national "Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over" campaign runs from December 16, 2026 through January 1, 2027.
• The safest plan is a sober driver. If you have been drinking, arrange a ride.

Checkpoints and roving patrols

A sobriety checkpoint, which courts also call a roadblock, is a planned operation at a fixed spot. Officers stop cars in a set pattern and briefly look for signs of impaired driving. The Vehicle Code authorizes a stop by an officer "engaged in a systematic program of checking vehicles or drivers." The officer may check the registration, proof of insurance and driver's license, or "secure such other information as the officer may reasonably believe to be necessary to enforce the provisions of this title." 75 Pa.C.S. § 6308(b).

The U.S. Supreme Court held that sobriety checkpoints are consistent with the Fourth Amendment in Michigan Department of State Police v. Sitz, 496 U.S. 444 (1990). In that case, the average stop took about 25 seconds. The Court added that holding particular drivers for "more extensive field sobriety testing may require satisfaction of an individualized suspicion standard." A checkpoint whose main purpose is to find evidence of ordinary crime, such as drug offenses, is different. The Court held that such a program "contravenes the Fourth Amendment." City of Indianapolis v. Edmond, 531 U.S. 32 (2000).

A roving patrol, sometimes called a saturation patrol, is ordinary enforcement with extra officers on the road. Because there is no checkpoint, each stop needs its own legal basis. For a suspected DUI, reasonable suspicion is enough, because "a post-stop investigation is normally feasible." Commonwealth v. Chase, 960 A.2d 108 (Pa. 2008). For a violation that a stop cannot further investigate, the officer needs probable cause.

Pennsylvania's holiday campaigns use both. In November 2025, state agencies announced that "law enforcement will conduct sobriety checkpoints, roving patrols, and regular traffic safety patrols."

When a checkpoint is lawful in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania applies its own test under Article I, Section 8 of the state constitution. In Commonwealth v. Tarbert, 535 A.2d 1035 (Pa. 1987), a plurality of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court described safeguards that keep a roadblock from being arbitrary. In Commonwealth v. Blouse, 611 A.2d 1177 (Pa. 1992), a majority adopted them: "We now adopt the guidelines set forth in Tarbert." The safeguards are:

• Advance approval. The decision to hold a checkpoint, and its time and place, are "reserved for prior administrative approval." They are not left to officers in the field.
• A place and time based on local experience. The route should be one "which, based on local experience, is likely to be travelled by intoxicated drivers." The time is chosen the same way.
• A neutral rule for which cars to stop. Officers at the scene do not pick cars at their own discretion. The pattern follows "objective standards prefixed by administrative decision."
• Warning to drivers. The checkpoint should be "ascertainable from a reasonable distance or otherwise made knowable in advance."
• A brief stop without a search. The stop allows "a brief but trained observation of a vehicle's driver, without entailing any physical search of the vehicle or its occupants."

"Substantial compliance with the guidelines is all that is required," the Supreme Court said in Blouse. It repeated that standard in Commonwealth v. Worthy, 957 A.2d 720 (Pa. 2008). In Commonwealth v. Yastrop, 768 A.2d 318 (Pa. 2001), a plurality of the Court applied the test and upheld a DUI roadblock in Northampton Borough, Northampton County.

What later cases add:

• Traffic backups. Officers at the scene may temporarily stop the checkpoint and let traffic through when a backup "has created unreasonable delay or safety concerns." Worthy.
• Why that place and time. The Commonwealth must show the basis for the location and the time. For a seatbelt checkpoint, generalized testimony was not enough, and the Superior Court held that the evidence should have been suppressed. Commonwealth v. Garibay, 106 A.3d 136 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2014). Later decisions treated the relevant location as "the area where the checkpoint is located," not the exact block. One accepted DUI arrest data for the surrounding police district. Commonwealth v. Menichino, 154 A.3d 797 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2017); Commonwealth v. Mercado, 2019 PA Super 63 (en banc).
• Officers from several municipalities. In Commonwealth v. Hlubin, 208 A.3d 1032 (Pa. 2019), the Supreme Court suppressed the evidence from a multi-municipality task-force checkpoint. The participating municipalities had not adopted the cooperation agreement the Court found the law required, and no exception let the arresting officer act outside his own municipality. About a month later, the General Assembly amended the police-jurisdiction statute. An officer may now act outside his municipality when he "has been requested to participate in a Federal, State or local task force and participation has been approved by the police department of the municipality which employs the officer." 42 Pa.C.S. § 8953(a)(3)(iii). Whether each out-of-town officer had that approval can still matter.

Checkpoints in the Lehigh Valley

Who runs them. Pennsylvania State Police Troop M, headquartered in Bethlehem, "covers Bucks, Lehigh, and Northampton counties." Its Bethlehem, Fogelsville and Belfast stations cover the Lehigh Valley. Municipal departments also work together. In Lehigh County, a regional DUI task force made up of municipal police departments conducts sobriety checkpoints and roving patrols.

How they are announced. The warning safeguard is satisfied if drivers can see the checkpoint from a reasonable distance or are told about it in advance. Advance publicity is one way to give warning, not the only way. Recent local announcements have named the county or municipality and the dates, not the exact location. Examples:

• The State Police (Troop M, Belfast) announced a checkpoint "within Northampton County" for Friday, December 27, and Saturday, December 28, 2024.
• The Lehigh Valley Regional DUI Task Force announced checkpoints for March 29, 2024, in Upper Macungie Township and April 5, 2024, in Allentown.
• The State Police announced a checkpoint in Lehigh County for September 18 through 20, 2026.

What you must do at a checkpoint

• Stop and follow lawful directions. It is an offense to "willfully fail or refuse to comply with any lawful order or direction of" a uniformed police officer. 75 Pa.C.S. § 3102. If an officer waves you into a separate lane or a parking area, go.
• Show your license and registration promptly. You must show your driver's license "upon demand by a police officer" and your registration card "upon demand of any police officer." 75 Pa.C.S. § 1511(a); § 1311(b). The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has held that "upon demand" "calls for timely compliance with a request," so hand the documents over instead of arguing first. Commonwealth v. Chisebwe, Nos. 4–7 MAP 2023 (Pa. Feb. 21, 2024).
• Have your insurance card ready. At a checkpoint, officers may check "proof of financial responsibility," which is your proof of insurance. 75 Pa.C.S. § 6308(b).
• Write your name if asked. A licensed driver must, "when requested by the police officer," write his or her name in the officer's presence to establish identity. 75 Pa.C.S. § 1511(a).
• Never give a false name. False identity information can create a separate charge. Our guide, Should I Talk to the Police Without a Lawyer in Pennsylvania?, explains the rule.

What you can decline, and what it costs

Questions. Your duty to produce documents does not require you to answer questions about where you have been or whether you have been drinking. A polite "I'd rather not answer questions" is enough. Anything you say can become evidence. Our guide to talking with police explains how to decline clearly and what not to do.

Field sobriety tests. The horizontal gaze nystagmus (eye), walk-and-turn and one-leg-stand tests are observational tools, not chemical tests. They do not measure blood-alcohol concentration. Pennsylvania's implied-consent law applies to "chemical tests of breath or blood," so declining the field tests does not trigger the chemical-test refusal suspension. 75 Pa.C.S. § 1547(a)–(b). Declining still has consequences:

• No right to be told. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that the state constitution's protection against self-incrimination "does not provide a 'right' to refuse a field sobriety test, and accordingly, that there is no concomitant right to be informed thereof." In plain terms, the officer does not have to tell you that you may decline. Commonwealth v. Hayes, 674 A.2d 677 (Pa. 1996).
• Possible evidence. The Superior Court held that evidence of a refusal of field sobriety tests is "not 'testimonial' in nature," so the Fifth Amendment does not bar it. Commonwealth v. McConnell, 591 A.2d 288 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1991) (a videotaped refusal at the police station after arrest).
• Arrest still possible. The officer can still decide to arrest based on everything else observed.

Our field sobriety tests page explains how the tests work.

A roadside preliminary breath test. Before an arrest, an officer with reasonable suspicion of DUI may require a handheld preliminary breath test. Its "sole purpose" is "to assist the officer in determining whether or not the person should be placed under arrest." The statute adds: "Refusal to submit to the test shall not be considered for purposes of subsections (b) and (e)." Those are the refusal-suspension and refusal-evidence provisions. 75 Pa.C.S. § 1547(k). The same subsection says, "No person has any right to expect or demand a preliminary breath test." That means you cannot insist on taking one to show that you are sober. Declining it does not prevent an arrest.

The breath or blood test after an arrest. This is the test the implied-consent law covers. After a DUI arrest, refusing a requested chemical test generally brings a 12-month license suspension, or 18 months in some repeat situations. The refusal can be used as evidence. For a breath test, or a blood test under a warrant, it can also increase the penalties if you are convicted. You cannot insist on talking to a lawyer before you decide. Our refusal guide explains the warnings, the suspension and the appeal deadline.

A search of your car. A checkpoint stop is supposed to be brief and does not include a search. You can say, "I do not consent to a search." Without consent, Pennsylvania's Constitution "requires both a showing of probable cause and exigent circumstances to justify a warrantless search of an automobile." Commonwealth v. Alexander, 243 A.3d 177 (Pa. 2020). Other rules, such as plain view, can still apply. Do not physically resist; your lawyer can challenge a search later.

Turning away before a checkpoint

A lawful turn away from a checkpoint is not, by itself, a reason to stop you. In Commonwealth v. Scavello, 734 A.2d 386 (Pa. 1999), a driver made a "concededly legal u-turn" before a roadblock, and a trooper stopped him. The Supreme Court explained: "Failing to go through the roadblock in and of itself, therefore, provides no basis for police intervention."

That is not a safe harbor. In Scavello itself, "One police car was designated to stop any car which turned away from the roadblock." The opinion also recognized that a stop is justified if police "observe a violation of the Motor Vehicle Code or have a reasonable suspicion" of criminal conduct. An illegal turn, or any other traffic violation on the way out, gives officers that reason. The safer course is simple: if you have been drinking, do not drive.

The 2026 holiday enforcement calendar

Police can run checkpoints and patrols on any night. These are the periods when official campaigns concentrate enforcement. During Pennsylvania's 2024 holiday period, from the Wednesday before Thanksgiving through January 2, there were 857 alcohol-related crashes and 18 deaths.

The State Police figures cover only cases investigated by state troopers, not municipal police.

If you are arrested: the first two weeks

• The test request. After an arrest, the officer will ask for a breath or blood test and read the required warnings. Refusing has separate consequences, and you cannot wait for a lawyer before deciding.
• Release and the summons. In many DUI cases initiated by a warrantless arrest, Pennsylvania's rules call for police to release the driver after processing instead of taking the driver before a judge. That applies when the most serious offense charged is no higher than a first-degree misdemeanor, the driver poses no threat of immediate physical harm, and the officer has reasonable grounds to believe the driver will appear. The case then proceeds by summons, which tells you where and when to appear. Pa.R.Crim.P. 519(B). If you were taken before a judge instead, our guide to the first 48 hours after an arrest explains the preliminary arraignment and bail.
• Write it down. While it is fresh, write a private account for your lawyer. Include when and where you were stopped, what the officer asked and what you said, which tests were requested, what you ate and drank and when, and who was with you. Keep receipts. Do not post about the arrest or discuss it with anyone else.
• Keep every paper. Keep any warning form you received, any citation, the property receipt, release or towing paperwork, and every PennDOT envelope.
• Watch for PennDOT. A refusal suspension has its own appeal deadline: generally 30 days after the mailing date of PennDOT's notice. The refusal guide explains it.
• Learn your county's path. The county where you were arrested controls the next steps; see the table below. Bethlehem sits in both counties, so check which county your case is in.
• Think about ARD early. Northampton County's DUI diversion deadline comes soon after the preliminary hearing. If you have had ARD or a DUI before, read Does ARD Count as a Prior DUI in Pennsylvania Now? before deciding anything.
• Plan for your license. A conviction or ARD can bring its own suspension. Our license guide explains suspension periods and the Ignition Interlock Limited License. The stages of a Pennsylvania DUI case page explains the rest of the process.

Northampton and Lehigh County at a glance

In both counties, state law requires a CRN evaluation before ARD or sentencing. 75 Pa.C.S. § 3816(a).

What a lawyer looks for after a checkpoint arrest

• The checkpoint's paperwork. The approval, the operating plan, the rule for which cars were stopped, and the data used to choose the place and time.
• Warning and setup. Whether drivers could see the checkpoint from a reasonable distance, or whether it was announced in advance.
• Authority to be there. Whether officers from other municipalities had their own department's approval to work the checkpoint.
• The length of the stop. Whether the first stop stayed brief, and what the officer saw, heard or smelled before asking for roadside tests or a preliminary breath test.
• The tests and the arrest. The video, how the field sobriety tests were given, the breath-test device, the warnings, and the timing of any chemical test.
• The remedy. If a checkpoint did not substantially comply with the guidelines, or a stop or search was unlawful, the usual remedy is a motion to suppress the evidence.

Talk to a Lehigh Valley DUI lawyer

Madsen Law Offices defends DUI cases in Northampton and Lehigh Counties from our office next to the Northampton County Courthouse. If you were stopped at a checkpoint or arrested during holiday enforcement, call (484) 548-0529 or schedule a consultation. Next-day appointments are often available.