Every booze bus is now a drugs bus

On my way home today, I had to stop for a booze bus.

Booze buses are actual buses (you can see one here) that are set up randomly on the roads, including the freeway, where every driver, EVERY driver must breathe into a breathalyser. The one that I drove through today was on a 8-lane road. They had the 4 lanes going in my direction funnel into one and then about 8 cops were lined up with breathalysers, testing 8 cars at a time.

It took me about 30 seconds, and of course I hadn't had anything to drink. The legal limit here is 0.05, which I think I would have after only one glass of wine, so I don't drink at all here when I am going to be driving anywhere.

I was a little disappointed, though, because now there is a new double bus campaign. So, every booze bus is a drugs bus, and they can make every driver take a portable drug test (tests for THC, ecstasy, and methamphetamine). I hadn't been doing any drugs either today, so I was hoping I could take the random drug test just for funsies. Turns out, though, that the drug test takes about 5 minutes to do, so they don't give them to every driver. Drat.

Now, while I gladly stop for the booze bus and completely understand the reasons behind the practice, it is something that really, really makes me aware of my American-ness. The whole thing rubs me the wrong way. I feel like it is a violation of my rights to be made to take a breathalyzer test and/or a random drug test without probable cause. Now, I don't think I have a right to drive under the influence, but I think that I shouldn't feel like I could be pulled over and tested at anytime when I am sober. I know that there are random sobriety tests in the U.S., but I have never seen one where every driver is made to blow into a breathalyzer. And random drug tests? forget about it!

It's a strange issue for me to think about and write about. I mean, I see how it is a great idea for improving public safety and reducing accidents on the road. I don't think taking the 30 seconds out of my drive home to breathe into a tube is a big deal either. The only people that would be affected are drunk drivers, who shouldn't be on the road anyway.

I just don't think that instituting this type of program in the United States would happen without a big fight.